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Gm O , y\ZAH n Jt IX OT O ]^7^o 



AN 



BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL 

DICTIONARY, 

CONTAINING 

AN ACCOUNT OF THE 

LIVES, CHARACTERS, AND WRITINGS 

OF THE 

.MOST EMINENT PERSONS IN NOnTH AMERICA TROM ITS FIRST 
DISCOVERY TO THE PRESENT TIME, 

AND A SUMMARY OF THE 

HISTORY OF THE SEVERAL COLONIES 

AND OF 

THE UNITED STATES, 

BY \V ILL! AM ALLEN,' a.m» 
Tr7.T.T.,. '...,.... 

Quique sui memores alios fecere merendo. virc. 
PUBLISHED 

BY WILLIAM HILLIARD, AND FOR SALE AT HIS BOOKSTORE 
IN CAMBRIDGE, 



Hilliard & Metcalf, printers. 
1809. <• 






DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS, to wit; 

•♦^.xvy* ^^ ^"^ BEMEMBERED, that Oil the twctity seventh day of July, 
S «) in the thirty fourth year of the independence of tlie United States 

^ s E A L. ^ of America, W i l l i a m A i, l e n of the said district has deposited in 
'T-^-^-J-^ jjiis office the title of a book, the rig-ht whereof he claims as au- 
thor, in the words following, to wit ; " An Amei-ican biographical and histor- 
" ical dictionaiy, containing an account of the lives, characters, and writings 
" of the most eminent persons in Nortli America from its first discovery to the 
" present time, and a summary of the history of the several colonies and of the 
" United States, by William Allen, a. m, Quique sui memores fecere 
*' merendo Virgil." 

In confoi-mity to the act of the congi-ess of the United States, entitled, 
" an act for the cncovn-agement of learning by securing the copies of maps, 
" charts, and books to tlie authors and proprietors of such copies diu"ing the 
" times, therein mentioned ;" and also to an act, entitled, " an act supple- 
•* mentary to an act, entitled, an act for tlie encouragement of learning by se- 
" cui'ing the copies of maps, charts, and books to the authors and proprietors 
" of such copies d'lring the times, therein mentioned ; and extending the ben- 
" fits thereof to the arts of designing, engraving, and etching historical and 
*♦ other prints." 

W S «nTIAW ^'^^^^^ "f *^^ district 
W. b. bttA W, ^^ Massachutetu, 



PREFACE. 



THE following work presents itself to the public with no 
claims to attention, but such as are founded upon the interest, 
which may be felt in the lives of Americans. Finding himself 
a few years ago in a literary retirement, with no important duties, 
which pressed immediately upon him, the author conceived the 
plan of this dictionary. He was desirous of bringing to the 
citizens of the United States more information, than was gener- 
jiUy possessed, respecting the illustrious men of former times, 
the benefactors and ornaments of this country, who have passed 
away. He persuaded himself, that if he could collect the 
fragments of biography, which were buried in the mass of A- 
merican historj^, or scattered amidst a multitude of tracts of va- 
rious kinds, and could fashion these materials into a regular 
form, so as to place before the eye our great and good men, if 
not in their full dimensions, yet in their true shape, he should 
render an acceptable service to his countrymen. This work 
with no little labor he has now completed ; and the inexperienced 
artist, in his first essay, can hope only, that his design will be 
commended. He wishes chiefly, that as the images of departed 
excellence are surveyed, the spirit, which animated them, may 
be caught by the beholder. 

As an apology however for the deficiences and errors of va- 
rious kinds, which may be found in the work, a full exposition 
ot his plan, and some representation of the difficulty of executing 
it seem to be necessary. 

It was proposed to give some account of the persons, who 
first discovered the new world ; of those, who had a principal 
agency in laying the foundations of the several colonies ; of those, 
who have held important offices and discharged the duties ot 
them with ability and integrity ; of those, who have been con- 
spicuous in the learned professions ; of those, who have been 
remarkable for genius and knowledge, or who have written any 



IV PREFACE. 

thing, ik'scning of rtmcmbrance ; oflhc liislinguishccl iiicnd.% 
ot literature aiul science ; of the statesmen, the patriots, and he- 
roes, w ho have contended for American Uherty, or aic^ed in the 
establishment of our civil institutions; and ot all, whose lives, 
bright with Christian virtue, might furnish examples, which 
should be wordiy of imitation. It was determined to enlarge 
this \\ide liehl by giving as complete a list, as could be made, 
ol the writings of each person, and by introducing die first min- 
isters of the principal towns for the purpose of illusti-ating the 
history of this country. The design included also a very com- 
pendious history of the United States, as w^ell as of each sepa- 
rate colony and state, for the satisfaction of the reader, v/ho 
iright wish to view the subjects of the biographical sketches in 
connexion with the most prominent facts relating to the country, 
in which they lived. In addition to all this, it was intended to 
annex such references, as would point out the sources, from 
which information should be derived, and as might direct to 
more copious intelligence, than could be contained in this work. 
Such were the objects, which the author had in view, when he 
commenced an enterprise, of whose magnitude and difficulty he 
was not sufficiently sensible before he had advanced too far to 
be able to retreat. The modern compilers of similar works in 
Europe have little else to do but to combine or al)ridge the labors 
of their predecessors, and employ the materials previously col- 
lected to their hands. But in the compilation of this work a 
new and untrodden field was to l)e explored. It became neces- 
sary not only to examine the whole of American history, in or- 
der to kn-Av who have taken a conspicuous part in the transac- 
tions ol this couiitr}' ; but to supply from other sources the im- 
perfect accounts of general historical writers, by a recurrence 
to the reteiences it will be seen, that much toil has been encoun- 
tered. But though the authorities may seem to be unnecessari- 
ly multiplied, yet there has been some moderation in introduc- 
ing them, for in many instances they do not by any means ex- 
hibit the extent oi the researches, which have been made. It 
could not be expected or wished, that newspapers, pamphlets, 
ai;d other p-roductions should !)e referred to for undisputed dates 
and sir.gle facts, which they have afibrded, and which have been 
imbotlieo with regular accounts. The labor liowever of search- 
ing lor information has frequendy been less, than that of com- 
jraring diflerent statements, endeavoring to reconcile them when 
they disagreed, adjusting the chronology, combining the inde- 
pendent lacts, and forniing a consistent whcle of what existed 
(.nly in disjointed parts. Sometimes the miiid has been over- 



PREFACE. V 

•whelmed by the variety and abundance of intelligence ; and 
sometimes the author has prosecuted his inquiries in every di- 
rection, and found only a barren waste. 

While he represents these circumstances to the candid reader, 
he indulges the belief, that the necessary imperfections of this 
work will be somewhat shielded from the severity of criticism. 
In surveying it he perceives, that a just proportion between the 
several articles has not always been presers'ed, that some names 
have been overlooked, and that some are introduced, which 
might have given place to others, that have been intentionally 
omitted. Though a smaller type has been used, than was orig- 
inally designed, and one hundred and forty pages added to the 
proposed number, yet there has been such an unexpected accu- 
mulation of materials, as to render it necessaiy not only greatly 
to abridge many articles, but entirely to exclude accounts of 
about two hundred persons, which had been prepared. 

For the large space, which is sometimes occupied in describ- 
ing the last hours of the persons, of whom a sketch is given, 
the following reasons are assigned. In the lives of our fellow 
men there is no period so important to them and so interesting 
to us, as the period, which immediately precedes their dissolu- 
tion. To see one of our brethren at a point of his existence, 
beyond which the next step will either plunge him down a prec- 
ipice into an abyss, from which he will never rise, or will ele- 
vate him to everlasting glory, is a spectacle, which attracts us not 
merely by its sublimity, but because we know, that the flight of 
time is rapidly hastening us to the same crisis. We wish to see 
men in the terrible situation, which inevitably awaits us ; to 
learn what it is, that can support them, and can secure them. 
The gratification of this desire to behold what is great and av/ful, 
and the communication of the aids, which may be derived from 
the conduct of dying men, have accordingly been combined in 
the objects of this v/<jrk. After recounting the vicissitudes, at- 
tending the affairs of men, the author was irresistibly inclined 
to turn from the fluctuations of human life, and to dwell, when 
his subject would give him an opportunity, upon the calm and 
firm hopes of the »-)hristian, and the sure prospects of eternity. 
While he thus soothed his ov.^n mind, he also bellev^ed, that he 
should afford a resting place to the minds of others,, fatigued 
with following their brethren amidst their transient occupations, 
their successes, their disappointments, and their afflictions. 

Some terms are used, which relate to local circumstances, 
and which require those circumstances to be pointed out. In 
several of the New England states, when the annual election of 



Vi PREFACE. 

the several branches of the legislature is completed, and the 
government is organized, it has been an ancient practice to have 
a SL-rmon preached in the audience of the newly elected rulers, 
which is called the election sermon. 1 his phrase would not 
need an explanation to an inhaliitant of New England. The 
names of pastor and teacher as distinct officers in the church fre- 
quently occur. Soon aftor the first settlement of this country, 
when some societies e ijoyed the labors of two ministers, they 
bore the titles of teacher and pastor, of which it was the duty 
of the former to attend particularly to doctrine, and of the lat- 
ter to exhortation ; the one was to instruct and the other to . 
persuade. But the boundary between these two offices was 
not well defined, and was in fact very little regarded. The dis- 
tinction of the name itself did not exist long. 

Great care has been taken to render the dates accurate, and 
to avoid the mistakes, which have been made from inattention 
to the former method of reckoning time, when A • arch was the 
first month of the )'ear. If any one, ignorant of this circum- 
stance, should look into Dr. Mather's Magnalia, or ecclesiasti- 
cal history of New England, he would sometimes wonder at 
the absurdity of the writer. He would read for instance in the 
life of president Chauncy, that he died in February 1671, and 
will find it previously said that he attended the commencement 
in the same year, which was in July. Thus too Peter Hobart 
is said to have died in January, and yet to have been infirm in 
the summer of 1678. When it is remembered, that March 
was the first month, these accounts are easy to be reconciled. 
There seems not however to have been any uniformity in dis- 
posing of the days between the first and the twenty fifth of 
March, for sometimes they are considered as belonging to the 
antecedent and sometimes to the subsequent year. American 
writers, it is believed, have generally if not always applied them 
to the latter. When the figures for two years are written, as 
in dates before the adoption of the new style in 1 752 is found 
frequently to be the case not only for the days above mentioned 
but for the days in Januaiy and Februar}', it is the latter year, 
which corresponds with our present mode of reckoning. Thus 
March 1, 1689 was sometimes written March 1, 1688, 9, or 
with the figures placed one above the other. The months were 
designated usually by the names of the first, the second, Sec. so 
that February' was the twelfth month. 

No apology is necessary for the free use, which has been 
made of the labors of others, for the plan of this book is so es- 
sentially diff'.rent from that of any, v.liich has preceded it, that 



PREFACE. VM 

itie author has not encroached upon the objects, which others 
have had in view. He has had no hesitation in using their very- 
language, whenever it suited him. Compilers seem to be li- 
censed pillagers. Like the youth of Sparta, they may lay their 
hands upon plunder without a crime, if they will but seize it 
with adroitness. The list of American literary productions, 
which has been rendered as complete as possible, is for the sake 
of method placed at the close of each article, and in giving the 
titles of them it will be perceived, that there has frequently 
been an economy of words as far as was consistent with distinct- 
ness of representation. The biographical chart prefixed is on a 
pl^ somewhat improved. It was thought a defect in Dr. 
Priestley'^s charts, that the lines, which denoted the length of 
life, were left so indeterminate. The short period of a little 
more than two centuries, within which this chart is confined, fur- 
nished an opportunity for expanding and multiplying the divis- 
ional lines, and thus of defining more precisely the length of 
each man's life The distance of every five years, it will be 
seen, is determined by the perpendicular lines, and each inter- 
mediate year is distinguished in the following manner. When 
the broad horizontal line terminates singly a little to the right 
hand of the perpendicular, this indicates one year's distance 
from it ; when it terminates with a parallel stroke over it, this 
indicates two years' remove from the perpendicular ; when it 
terminates with a parallel stroke under it, three years ; when it 
terminates singly near to the right hand perpendicular, this in- 
dicates four years' distance from the left or one from the right 
hand perpendicular. Thus it will be instantly seen, that Rit- 
tenhouse died in 1801, Minot in i8('2, S. Adams in 1803, and 
Hamilton in 1804 ; and that Johnson was bom in 1698, Pera- 
berton in 1672, Edwards in 1703, and Belknap in 1744. 

The author cannot neglect here to express his acknowledg- 
ments to those gentlemen, who have afforded him any aid in his 
inquiries, whether by imparting to him information, or putting 
into his hands their collection of American pamphlets, or 
opening to him their private libraries ; nor can he be insensible 
of his obligations for access to that noble institution, the Athe- 
naeum in Boston, and to the library of the Massachusetts his- 
torical society. 

He is aware, that he lives in times, which perhaps are like all 
other times, when the sympathies of parties of different kinds 
are very strong ; and he believes, that he has sought less to con- 
ciliate them than to follow truth, though she might not lead him 
into any of the paths, along which the many are pressing. With- 



Vin PREFACE. 

out resolving to be impartial it would indicate no common des- 
titution of upright and honorable principles to attempt a repre- 
sentation of tne characters ot men. He may have misappre- 
hended, and he may have d me what is worse. All are liable to 
errors, and he knows enough of the windings of the heart as to 
remember, that errors may proceed from prejudice, or indo- 
lence of attention, and be criminal, while they are cherished as 
honest and well founded convictions, the results of impartial in- 
quiry. He trusts however, that nothing will be found in this 
book to counteract the influence of genuine religion, evincing it- 
self in piety and good Avorks, or to weaken the attachment of 
Americans to their well balanced republic, which equally abhors 
the tyranny of irresponsible authority, the absurdity of he^rai- 
tary wisdom, and the anarchy of lawless liberty. 

Cambridge^ August 2, 1809. 







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AN 

AMERICAN 
BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL 

DICTIONARY. 



XTLBBOT (Hull), a respectable minister of CharleS" 
town, Massachusetts, was graduated at Harvard college in the 
year 1720. His ordination took place Feb. .5, 1724, Alter con- 
tinuing near 60 years in the ministry, he died June 17, 1782, aged 
80. He publislied the following sernaons ; on the artillery elec- 
tion in Boston, 1735 ; on the rebellion in Scotland, 1746 ; against 
profane cursing and swearing, 1747. 

ADAMS (John), a poet, was the only son of tlie Hon. John Ad- 
ams of Nova Scotia, and was graducited at Hc%i'vard college in 1721. 
He was settled in the ministry at Newport, Rhode Island, April 1 1, 
1728, in opposition to the wishes of the Rev. Mr. Clap, who was 
pastor. Mr. Clap's friends formed a new society, and Mr. Adams 
Was dismissed in about two years. He died at Cambridge in January 
1740 in the 36th year of his age, deeply lamented by his acquaint- 
ance. His funeral was such, as indicates the high estimation, in 
ivhich he was held. He was much distinguished for his learning, 
genius, and piety. As a preacher he was much esteemed. A 
Small volume of his poems was published at Boston in 1745, which 
contains imitations and paraphrases of several portions of scripture, 
translations from Horace, and the whole book of Revelation in he- 
toic verse, together with original pieces. The versification is re- 
markably harmonious for the period and the country. Mr. Ad- 
ams' productions evince a lively fancy and breathe a pious strain. 
They prove him possessed of some of the impoitant requisites 
of a good poet. — Massa.Mag.for Ajir. 1789 ; Backus' Abr. 158 ; 
Pref. to his poems, 

ADAMS (Eliphalet), an eminent minister of New London, 
Connecticut, was graduated at Harvard college in 1694. He was 
ordained Feb. 9, 1709, and died in April 1753 in the 77th year of 
his age. He published a sermon on the death of Rev. Jame» 
Noyes of Stonington j election sermon, 1710 j a discourse occa« 






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^ ADA. 

sioned by a distressing slorm, prfcached March 3, 1717 ; a thanks- 
giving sermon, 1721; a sc"nion on the dcala ol gov. Saltonstall, 
1724 ; at the onlinaiion of Rev. William Ea^er, Lebanon, May 
87, 1725 ; at the ordination ol" Rev. Thonius Clap, Windham, 
1726 ; and a discourse before a society oi young men, 1727. 

ADA.MS (Amos), minister of Roxbiny, Massachusetts, was 
graduated at Harvard college in 1752. He w.is ordain< d as suc- 
cessor to Rev. Mr. Peabody Sep. 12, 1753, and died at Dor- 
chester Oct. 5, 1775, in the 48th year ot his age. His son. Rev. 
Thomas Adams, was ordained in Bostoi» as minister lor Camden, 
South Carolina ; where, alter a residence of 8 years, he died Aug. 
16, 1797. 

Mr. Adams in early life devoted himself to the service of his 
Redeemer, and he continued his benevolent labors as a preacher of 
the gospel with unabating vigor till his death. He was iervent in 
devotion, and his discourses, always animated by a lively and ex- 
pressive action, were remarkably calculated to Warm the heart. 
He was steadfast in his principles and unwearied in industry. 

He published the following sermons ; on the death of Mrs. Lu- 
cy Dudley, 1756 ; at the artillery election, 1759 ; on the gener- 
al thanksgiving for the reduction of Quebec, 1759 ; at the ordina- 
tion of Mr. Samuel Kingsbury, EdgarVown, Nov. 25, 1761 ; utihe 
ordination of Mr. John Wyeth, Gloucester Feb. 5, 1766 ; the 
only hope and refuge of sinners, 1767 ; two discourses on relig- 
ions lii)ertv, 1767 ; a concise and historical view of New England 
m two discourses on the general fast April 6, 1769, which was re- 
ptiblished in London in 1770 ; a sermon at the ordination of Mr. 
Jonathan Moore, Rochester, Sep. 25, 1768 ; at the ordination of 
"Mr. Caleb Prentice, Reading, Oct. 25, 1769, He preached a 
sermon at the Dudlcian lecture of Harvard college in 1770, enti- 
litled, diocesaTi episcopacy, as founded on the supposed episcopacy 
of Timothv and Titus, subverted. This work is a specimen of the 
learnir.g oi' the writer. It is lodged in manuscript in the library of 
the college. 

ADAMS (Joseph), a minister remarkable for longevity, was 
graduated at Harvard colle e in 1710, was settled at Newington, 
New Hampshire, in 1715, and died in 1783 aged 93. He preach- 
ed till just before his death. 

He published a sermon on the death of John Fabian Esq. 1757 ; 
and a sermon on the necessity of rulers civil and ecclesiastical 
exerting themselves against the growth of impiety, 1760. — Be!' 
hinfi's- .V. //. iii. 304. 

ADAMS (ZAnniEL), minister of Lunenburg, Massachusetts, 
Tvas born in BruiiUree, now Quincy, Nov. 5, 1739. His fuher 
was the uncle of John Adams, late president of the United States. 
He was graduated at Harvard college in 1759, having made, while 
in that seminary, great proficiency in learning, and njuch improved 



ADA. 3 

tKe vigorous powers of mind, with wliich he was endued. He 
was ordained Sep. 5, 1764, ana died March 1, 1801, in the 62nd 
year ot his age, and the 37th ot his ministry. 

Mr. Adams was eminent as a preacher of the gospel, often ex- 
plaining the most important aoctrines in a rational and scrip- 
tural manner, and eniorcing them with plainness and pungen- 
cy. His language was nervous, and whiie in his public per- 
formances he gave instruction he also imparted pleasure. In 
his addresses to the throne of grace he was remiarkable for perti- 
nency of thought and readiness ot utterance. Though by bodily- 
constitution he was liable to irritation, yet he treasured no ill will 
in his bosom. His heart was easily touched by the attlictions of 
others and his sympathy and benevolence prompted hiin to aaminis- 
ter relief, when in his power. He was considered as a man ot up- 
rightness, who feared God, and who was a real partaker ot the 
faith Oi the gospel. 

He was frequently called to preach on public occasions, and he 
did not disappoint the expectations of his hearers. He published 
a sermon on the nature, pleasures, and advantages of church music, 
1771 ; on christian unity, 1772 ; the election sermon 1782 ; on 
the 19th of April, 1783 ; at the ordination of Rev. Enoch Whip- 
ple, 1788 .— Whitney's fun . serm . 

ADAMS (Samuel), governor of Massachusetts, and a most dis- 
tinguished patriot in the American revolution, was born in Boston 
of a reputable family Sep. 27, 1722. He was graduated at Har- 
vard college in 1740. When he commenced master ol arts in 
1743, he proposed the following question for discussion, Whether 
it be lawful to resist the supreme magistrate, it the commonwealth 
cannot otherwise be preserved ? He maintained the afiirmalive, 
and thus early showed his attachment to the liberties of the people. 

Early distinguished by talents as a writer, his first attempts were 
proofs of his filial piety. By his efforts he preserved the estate of 
his father, which had been attached on account of an engagement 
in the land bank bubble. He Avas known as a political writer dur- 
ing the administrution of Shirley, to which he was opposed, as he 
thought the union of so much civil and military power in one man 
was dangerous. His ingenuity i wit, and profound argument are 
spoken of with the highest respect by those, who were cotenipora- 
ry with him. At this early period he laid the foundation of public 
confidence and esteem. 

Tn 1765 he was elected a member of the general assembly of 
Massachusetts in the place of Oxenbridge Thacher Esq. deceased. 
He was soon chosen clerk, and he gradually acquired influence in the 
legislature. This was an eventful time. But Mr. Adams pos- 
sessed a courage, which no dangers could sh;.ke. He was undis- 
mayed by the prospect, which struck terror into the hearts of ma- 
ny. He was a member of the legislature near ten years, and b«? 



4 ADA. 

was the soul, wliich animated it to the most important resolutions. 
No mwi did so much. He pressed his measures with ardor ; yet 
he was prudent ; he knew how to bend the passions of others to 
his purpose. 

When the charter was dissolved, he was chosen a nvember of 
the provinriiil convention. In 1774 he was elected a member of 
tile general congress. In this station, in which he remained a 
number ot years, he rendered the most impoivant services to his 
couutiy. His eloquence was adapted to the times, in wliich he 
lived. The energy ol his language corresponded witli the firm- 
ness and vigor of his mind. His heart glowed with the feelings 
of a patriot, and his elofjuence was simple, majestic, and persua- 
sive. He was one of the most cfhcient members of congress. He 
possessed keen penetration, unshaken fortiiude, and jjermauent de- 
cision. Ciordon speaks of him in 1774 as having for a long time 
whispered to his confideniial friends, that tliis country musit 
be independent, In the last act of state of the British government 
in Massachusetts he was proscribed wixh John Hancock, when a 
general pardon was offered to all, who had rebelled. This act was 
<lated June 12, 1775, and it teaches Americans what they owe to 
the denounced i>atriot. 

In 1776 he united with Franklin, J. Adams, Hancock, Jefferson, 
and a liost ot worthies, in deckiring the United States no longer 
an appendage to a ntonarchy, but free and independent. 

When the constitution of Massachusetts was adopted he was 
chosen a member of the senate, of which body he was elected pres- 
ident. He was soon sent to the western countries to quiet a dis- 
turbance, which was rising, and he was successful in his mission. 
He was a member of the convention for examining the constitution 
of the United States. He made objections to sever;*l of its provis- 
ions, but his principal ol>jection was to that article, which rendered 
the several states amenable to tl\e courts of the nation. He thought 
this reduced them to mere corporations ; that the sovereignty of 
each would be dissolved ; and that a consolidated government, sup- 
ported by an army, would be tin-, consequence. The constitution 
was afterwards altered in tliis point and ui most otlier respects ac- 
cording to his wishes. 

In 1789 he was chosen lieutenant governor, and was contin- 
ued in this office till 1794, when he was elected governor, as suc- 
cessor to Mr. Huicock. He Avas anntially replaced in the chair 
of the first magistrate of Massachusetts till 1797, when his age and 
infirmities induced him to retire from public life. He died Oct, 
2, 1803, in the 82nd year of his age. 

The leading traits in the character of Mr. Adams were an un- 
conquerable love of lilierty, integrity, firmness, and decision. Some 
acts of his administration as chief magistrate were censured, 
though all allowed his motives were pure. A division in politicai 



ADA. 5 

sentiments at that time existed, and it has since increased. When 
he differed trom the majority he acted with great independence. 
At the close of the war he opposed peace with Great Britain, un- 
less the northern states retained their full privileges in the fisheries. 
In 1787 he advised the execution of the condign punishment, to which 
the leaders of the rebellion in 1786 had been sentenced. He was 
opposed to the treaty with Great Britain made by Mr. Jay in 1794, 
and he put his election to hazai'd by avowing his dislike of it. He 
was censured for his conduct ; but he undoubtedly had a right to 
express his opinion, and his situation made it his duty to point out 
to the people what he conceived to be causes of danger. 

Mr. Adams was a man of incorruptible integrity. Attempts 
were probably made by the Bxitish to bribe him. Gov. Hutchinson, 
in answer to the inquiry, why Mr. Adams was not taken oft' from 
his opposition by an office, writes to a friend in England, " Such is 
the obstinacy and inflexible disposi'ion of the man, that he never 
can be conciliated by any office or gift whatever." 

He was poor. While occupied abroad in the most important 
and responsible public duties, the partner of his cares supported 
the family at home by her industry. Though his resources wene 
very small ; yet such was the economy and dignity of his house, 
that those, who casually visited him, found nothing mean, or lUibe- 
coming his station. His country, to whose interests he had devot- 
ed his life, permitted him to remain poor ; but there were not 
wanting a few friends, who showed him their regard. In this hon- 
orable poverty he continued to a very late period of his life ; and 
had not a decent competency fallen into his hands by the very afflic- 
ting event of the death of an only son, he must have depended for 
subsistence upon the kindness of his friends, or the charity of the 
public. 

To a majestic countenance and dignified manners there was add- 
ed a suavity of temper, which conciliated the affection of his ac^ 
quaintance. Some, who disapproved of his political conduct, lov- 
ed and revered him as a neighbor and friend. He could readily 
relax from severer cares and studies to enjoy the pleasures of pri- 
vate conversation. Though somewhat reserved among strangers, 
yet with his friends he was cheerful and companionable, a lover of 
chaste wit, and remarkably fond of anecdote. He faithfully dis- 
charged the duties arising from the relations of social life. His 
house was the seat of domestic peace, regularity, and method. 

Mr. Adams was a christian. His mind was early imbued with 
piety, as well as cultivated by science. He early approached the 
table of the Lord Jesus, and the purity of his life witnessed the sin- 
cerity of his profession. On the christian sabbath he constantly 
went to the temple, and the morning and evening devotions in his 
family proved, that his religion attended him in his seasons of re^ 
tlrement from the world. The last production of his pen was m 
favor of christian truth. He died in the faith of the gospel. 



6 ALB. 

He was a sage and a patriot. The independence of the United 

States of America is ptriiapb to Ijc ulti ibuicu as much to his exer- 
tions, as to the exertions oi any one man. '1 liouj^h he was called 
to strugi^le with adversity, he was never discoiu-aged. He was 
consistent and hrm unuer the cruel neg.ect oi a friend and the ma- 
lignant rancor ol an enemy ; comforting himself in the uarkest sea- 
sons with reflections upon the wisdom and goodness of God. 

His writings exist only in tiie perishable columns of a newspaper 
or pamphlet. In his more advanced years, in the year 1790, a lew 
letters passed between him and Mr. John Adams, then vice presi- 
dent of the Unitetl St.ites, in which the principles of government 
are discussed, and there seems to have been some difference of sen- 
timent between tliose eminent patriots and statesmen, who had toil- 
ed together through the revolution. This correspondence was 
published in 1800. An oration, wfiich Mr. Adams delivereil at the 
state nouse in Philadelphia Aug. 1, 1776, was published. The ob- 
ject is to support American independence, the declaration of which 
by congress had been made a short time before. He opposes kingly 
government and heretlitary succession with warmth and energyr. 
Not long before his death he addressed a letter to Paine, express- 
ing his disaprobation of that unbeliever's attempts to injure the 
cause of christianitv.— /"//arAer's strmon ; Suliivan's c/iaractcr of 
him in fiublic fiafiers ; AeiA* Cyclojixdia ; PolyaJithos, iii. 73 — 82 ; 
Gordon, i. 347, 410 ; Brissct, .Mauv. VoyA. 151. 

ALBER r (PiK.uRE Antonie), rector of the French protest- 
ant episcopal church in New York, was the descendant of a highly- 
respectable family in Lausanne, Switzerland. About the year 
1796 he was invited to receive the charge of the church in the 
city of New York, which was founded by the persecuted Huguenots 
after the revocation of the Ci.ict of Nantes. He died July 12, 1806, 
in the 41st ye.'.r ol his age. 

He was an accomplished gentleman, an erudite scholar, a pro- 
found theologian, and a most eloquent preacher. A stranger, of 
unobtrusive manners and invinciljle modesty, he led a very retired 
life. His worth however could not be concealed He was esteem- 
ed and beloved by all, who had formed any acfiuaint..nce with him. 
— .V, Y. Herald ; Musna. Miss. Mag. iv. 78. 

ALDEN (John), a magistrate of Plymouth colony, was one of 
the first company, which settled New England. He arrived in 
1620, and his life was prolonged tdl Sep. 12, 1687, when he died 
aged about 89 years. He was a very worthy und useful man, of 
great humility, and cmiiK-nt for the sanctity of his life. He was 
an assistant in the administration of every governor for 67 years. 
A professed disciple of Jesus Christ, he lived in accordance with 
his profession. In his last illness he was patient imd resign- 
ed, fully believing that God, who had imparted to him the love of 
excellence, wo\i1(! pi'rfect the work, which he had beQ;un,undwoulj\ 
render him completely holy in heaven.— fn>icc'* ^nn. 85. 



ALE. 7 

ALEXANDER (James), secretary of the province of New 
York, and many years one of the council, arrived in ttie colony in 
1715. He was a Scotch gentleman, who was bred to the law. 
Gov. Burnet was particularly attached to him. Though not distin- 
guished for his talents us a public speaker, he was at the head of his 
profession for sagacity und penetration. Eminent for his knowl- 
edge, he was also communicative and easy of access. By honest 
practice and unwearied application to business he acquired a great 
estate^ He died in the beginning of 1756. — S?mth's J\'',J. 436 ; 
Smith's .¥. Y. 152. 

ALEXANDER (William), commonly called lord Stirling, 
a major general in the American anny, was a native of the city 
of New York, but spent a considerable part of his life in New 
Jersey, He was considered by many as the rightful heir to 
the title and estate of an earldom in Scotland, of which country his 
father was a native ; and although, when he went to North Britain 
in persuit of this inheritance, he failed of obtaining an acknowledg- 
ment of his claim by government ; yet among his fiiends and ac- 
quaintances he received by courtesy the title of lord Stirling. 
He discovered an early fondness for the study of mathematics and 
astronomy, and attained great eminence in these sciences. 

In the battle on Long Island Aug. 27, 1776, he was taken pris- 
oner, after having secured to a large part of the det.ch.roent an op- 
portunity to escape by a bold attack with four hundred men upon a 
corps under lord Cornwallis. His attachment to Washington was 
proved in the latter part of 1777 by transmitti; g to him an account 
of the disaffection of gen. ConAvay to the commander in chief. In 
the letter he said, " Sucli wicked duplicity of conduct I shall always 
think it my duty to detect." 

He died at Albany Jan. 15, 1783 aged 57 years. He Avas a 
brave, discerning, and intrepid officer.— M///er, ii. 390 ; Holmes^n. 
358, 469 ; Marshall iii. ^fote Ab. v. 

ALLEN (John), first minister of Dedham, Massachusetts, was 
born in England in 1596, and was driven from his native land dur- 
ing the persecution of the ptiritans. He had been for a number of 
years a faithful preacher of the gospel. Soon after he arrived in 
New England he was settled pastor of the church in Dedham 
April 24, 1639. Here he continued till his death Aug. 26, 1671, 
in the 75th year of his age. He was a man of great meekness and 
humility, and of considerable distinction in his day. Mr. Cotton 
speaks of him Avith respect in his preface to Norton's answer to 
Apollonius. 

He published a defence of the nine positions, in which, with Mr. 
Shepard of Cambridge, he discusses the points of church disci- 
pline ; and a defence of the Synod of 1662 against Mr. Chauncy 
under the title of Animadversions upon the Antisynodalia, 4to, 
1664, This woi'k is reserved in the New England library. The 



8 ALl.. 

two last sermons, which he preached, were printed after his deatii. 
— il/wtfTm/. iii. 132 ; Prentiss* J'un. serm. on Haven. 

ALLKK (rnoMAs), minister of Charlestown, Massachusetts, 
was horn at Norwich in England in 1608, and was educated at 
Cambiidge. He was afterwards minister of St. Edmond's in Nor- 
wich, hut was silenced by bishop Wren about the year 1636 for 
refusing to read the book of sports, and conform to other impo^i- 
fions. In 1633 he fled to New England, and was the same year 
installed in Charlestown, where he was a pious, faithful preacher 
of the gospel till about 1651, when he returned to Norwich, and 
continued the exercise ot his ministry till 1662. He afterwards 
preached to his church on all occasions that offered till his death 
Sep. 21, 1673, aged 65. He was a very pious man, greatly beloT- 
ed, i»nd an able, practical preacher. 

He published an invitation to thirsty sinners to come to their 
Savior; the way of the Spirit In bringing souls to Christ; the 
glory of Christ set forth, with the necessity of faith in several 
sermons ; a chain of scripture chronology from the creation to 
the death of Christ in 7 periods. This was pruned in 1 658, and was 
considered as a very learned and useful work. It is preserved in 
the New England library, established by Mr. Prince, by whom, 
the authors quoted in the book are written in the beginning of it in 
his own hand. Mr. Allen wrote also with Mr. Shepard in 1645 a 
prefiice to a tre.itise on liturgies, £cc. composed by the latter. He 
contends, that only visible saints and believers should be received 
to communion. — Ma^al. iii. 215 ; JVoncon. Memor.i. 254 ; iii. 
11, 12. 

ALLEN (James), minister in Boston, came to this country in 
1662, recommended by Mr. Goodwin. He had been a fellow of 
Kew college, Oxford. He v/as at this time a young man, and pos- 
sessed considerable talents. He was very pleasing to many of the 
church in Boston, and an attempt was made to settle him as assist- 
ant to Mr. Wilson and Mr. Norton. He was ordained teacher of 
the first church Dec. 9, 1668, as colleague with Mr. Davenport, 
who was at the same time ordained pastor. After the death of Mr. 
Davenport he had for his colleague Mr. Oxenbridge, and after his 
<!ecease Mr. Wadsworth. 

In 1669 seventeen ministers published their testimony against 
the conduct of Mr. Allen and Mr. Davenport in relation to the set- 
tlement of the Ititter. They were charged with commimicating 
parts only of letters from the church of Newhaven to the church of 
Boston, by which means it was said the church was deceived ; but 
they in defence asserted, that the letters retained did not represent 
things differently from what had been stated. The whole colony 
v^s interested in the controversy between the first and the new or 
third church. At length the general court in lf.70 declared the 
'*onduct of those rhurf-hes and ciders, who assisted in establishing 



ALL. 9 

the third church, to be illegal and disorderly. At the next session 
however, as there was a change of the members of the general 
court, the censure was taken off. It seems the act of censure was 
expressed in language very intemperate, and invasion of the rights 
of churches and assumption of prelatical power were declared in 
it to be among the prevailing evils of the day. The charge was so 
general, and it threatened to operate so unfavorably on religion, 
that a number of the very ministers, who had published their tes- 
timony against the elders of the first church, wrote an address to 
the court, representing the intemperate nature of the vote ; and it 
was in consequence revoked, ' and the new church was exculpated. 
In a new charter of Harvard college, which was projected in 1700, 
though the plan was never executed, Mr. Allen was mentioned as 
one of its fellows. He died Sep. 22, 1710, aged 78 years. 

He published healthful diet, a sermon ; New England's choicest 
blessings, an election sermon, 1679; serious advice to delivered 
ones ; man's self-reflection a means to further his recovery from 
his apostasy from God ; and two practical discourses. — Hutchiv.' 
son's history of Massachusetts, i. 173, 222, 225, 270 ; CoUtctions of 
the historical society, vx.. 173; Calamy. 

ALLEN (James), first minister of Brookline, Massachusetts, 
was a native of Roxbury, and was graduated at Harvard college in 
1710. He was ordained Nov. 5, 1718, and after a ministry of 28 
years died of a lingering consumption Feb. 18, 1747, in the 56th 
year of his age. He was esteemed a pious and judicious divine. 
His benevolent labors were not in vain. In July 1743 he gave his 
attestation to the revival of religion, which took place through- 
out the country, and made known the success, which had 
attended his own exertions in Brookline. Almost every 
person in his congregation was impressed in some degree 
with the important concerns of another world, and he could no 
more doubt, he said, that there was a remarkable work of God, 
than he could that there was a sun in the heavens. Afterwards, 
from peculiar circumstances, perhaps from the apostasy of some, 
who had appeared strong in the faith, he was led to speak of this 
revival " luiadvisedly with his lips." This produced an alienation 
among some of his former friends. In his last hours he had a hope, 
which he would not part with, as he said, for a thousand worlds. 

He published a thanksgiving sermon, 1722 ; a discourse on 
providence, 1727; the doctrine of merit exploded, and humility 
recommended, 1727 ; a fast sermon, occasioned by the earthquake, 
1727 ; a sermon to a society of young men, 1731 ; a sermon on 
the death of Samuel Aspinwall, 1733 ; an election sermon, 1744. 
— Pierce's century discourse ; Christian history, i. 394. 

ALLEN (James), member of the house of representatives of Mas- 
sachusetts a number of years, and a counsellor, was graduated at Har- 
vard college in 1 7 1 7, and died Jan . 8 , 1 7 5 5 , in the 5 8th year of his age . 
2 



10 ALL. 

In the beginning of 1749 he made a speech in the house, in which 
he ceusured the conduct of the governor. He was required to 
make an acknowledgment. As he declined doing this, the house 
issued a precept lor the choice of a new representative. The citi- 
zens oi iiosion reelected him, but he was not permitted to take hi» 
seat. The next year however he took it, and retained it till hi» 
death. — Minot'« liintory of Massachusetts, i. 104—107. 

ALL>i:N (William), chief justice of Pennsylvania before 
the revolution, was the son of William Allen, an eminent mer- 
chant oi l^hiladelphia, who died in 1725. He was much distin- 
guished as a iricna to literature. He patronized sir Benjamin West, 
the painter. By his counsels and exertions Dr. Franklin was much 
assisted in establishing the college of Philadelphia. He published 
the American crisis, London, 1774, in which he suggests a plan 
*' for restoring the depcndance of America to a state of perfection." 
His principles seem to have been not a little arbitrary.— iWiT/er 'a 
rctroftficctj ii. 352 ; Proud'a liist. of Petinaylvania, ii. 188. 

ALLEN (Moses), minister of Midway, Georgia, and a distin- 
guished friend of his country, was bom in Northampton, Massa- 
chusetts, Sept. 14, 1748. He was educated at the college in New 
Jersey, where he was gi'aduated in 1776, and was licensed by the 
presbytery of New Brunswick Feb. 1, 1774, and recommended by 
them as an ingenious, prudent, pious man. In March following he 
preiched first at Christ's church parish, about 20 miles from 
Charleston, in South Carolina. Here he was ordained Mai'ch 16, 
1775, by the rev. Mr. Zubly, Mr. Edmonds, and William Tennent. 
He preached his faiewell sermon in this place June 8, 1776, and 
was soon afterwards established at Midway, to which place he had 
been earnestly solicited to remove. 

The Biitish army from Florida under gen. Provost dispersed 
his society in 17 7S, and burned the meeting house, almost every 
dweding house, and the crops of rice then in stacks. In Decem- 
ber, when Savannah was reduced by the British troops, he was tak- 
en prisoner. The continental ollicers were sent to Sunbury on pa- 
role, but Mr. Allen, who was chaplain to the Georgia brigade, was 
denied that privilege. His warm exhortations from the pulpit, 
and his animated exertions in the field exposed him to the partic- 
ul u" resentment of the British. They sent him on board the pris- 
on ships. Wearied with a confinement of a number of weeks in a 
loathsome place, and seeing no prospect of relief, he determined to 
attempt the recovery of his liberty by throwing himself in the river, 
and swinniiing to an adjacent point ; but he v/as drowned in the at- 
tempt on the evening of February 8, 1779, in the 31st year of his 
age. His l)ody was washed on a ncigiiboring island, and was found 
by some of iiis friends. They requested of the captain of a Brit- 
ish vessel some boards to make a coftin, but could not procure 
them. 



ALL. a 

Mr. Allen, notwithstanding his clerical function, appeared 
among- the foremost in the day of battle, and on all occtisions sought 
the post of danger as the post of honor. The friends oi independ- 
ence admired him for his popular talents, his courage, and his 
many virtues. The enemies of independence could accuse nim of 
nothing more, than a vigorous exertion ot all his powers in defend- 
ing what he conscientiously believed to be the rights oi his injured 
country . 

Though a brave man, he was also a christian. The following 
letter, addressed to the trustees of Midway in 177r,will somewhat 
exhibit his character. '' You have the enemy on your borders ; 
you are in more imminent danger, and therefore stand in greater 
need of the preached word to comfort God's chosen people and to 
awaken sinners from their state of security. I shall not leave this 
people [of Christ's church parish] in so distressed <x situation as you 
appear to me to be in. They can have frequent occasionai supplies, 
and there is a prospect of their being soon supplied with a settled 
minister. Mr. Tennent's being at the northward and Mr. Zubly 
at so great a distance, I am rather unhappy in not having advisers 
in so important a matter. But the considerations iiow oiiered 
have engaged me to accept of your call. I shall endeavor to be 
with you the fourth Sunday in June. I beg your prayers for myself 
and family, that we may always know our duty, and industriously 
perform it. May God bless you and your constituents. May 
Christ redeem and save you. May the Holy Spirit sanctify and 
comfort you ; and may all at last meet at the right hand of our 
dear Redeemer, spotless and unblamable in the righteousness of 
Christ."— i?a7wsaj/'« South Caroliiia^ ii, 6, 7 ; Collections hist, soci- 
ety, ix. 157, 158 ; Allen's fun, serm. on Moses Alleri ; HarCs 
semi, at ordinat. oj" reverend Mr. Holmes. 

ALLEN (Henry), a preacher in Nova Scotia, began to propa- 
gate some very singular sentiments about the year 1778. He was 
a man of good understanding, thougxi his mind had not been much 
cultivated, and though he possessed a warm imagination. He be- 
lieved, that the souls of all men are emanations or parts of the one 
great Spirit, and that they were present with our first parents in 
Eden and participated in the first transgression ; that our first par- 
ents in innocency were pure spirits without material bodies ; that 
the body will not be raised from the grave ; ard that the ordinanc- 
es of the gospel are matters of indifference. The scriptures, he 
contended, have a spiritual meaning, and are not to be understood 
in a literal sense. He died in 1783, and since his death his party 
has much declined. He published a volume of hymns, and seve- 
ral treatises and sermons. AduJiis" vieio of religions. 

ALLEN (Ethan), a brigadier general in the war witli Great 
Britain, was born in Salisbury, Connecticut. While lie was young, 
his parents emigrated to Vermont. At the commencement of the 



12 ALL. 

disturbances in this territory about the year 1770 he took a moat 
active p.vri in luvor of the green mountain boys, as the settlers were 
then calleil, in opposition to the government of New Vork. An 
art of outlawry against him was .jassed by this state, and 500 guin- 
eas were oflcred lor his apprehension ; but ids p^ity was too nu- 
merous and tait.iful to permit him to be disturbed by any apprehen- 
sions for his sahty ; in all the struggles of the day he was success- 
ful ; ..nd he not only j)roved a vakuibie friend to those, wliose cause 
he had espoused, hut he was humane and generous toward those, 
■with whom he had to contend. When called to take the field, 
he showed himself an able leader and an intrepid soldier. 

The news ot the battle ot Lexington determined colonel Allen 
to engage on the side of his country, and inspired him with the 
desire of demonstrating his attachment to liberty by some bold ex- 
ploit. Whiie his mind was in tliis state a plan for taking Ticonde- 
roga and Crown Point by surprise, which was formed by several 
gentlemen in Connecticut, was communicted to him, and he rea- 
dily engaged in the project. Receiving directions from the gene- 
ral assembly of Connecticut to r.iise the green mountain boys, and 
conduct the enterprise, he collected 230 of the hardy settlers and 
proceeded to Castleton. Here he was unexpectedly joined by col. 
Arnold, who had been commissioned by the Mass.chusctts com- 
mittee to raise 400 men, and effect tlie same object, wiiii h was now 
about to i>e acco nplished. As he had not raised the men, he was 
admitted to act as an assistant to colonel Alien. They reached the 
lake opposite Ticonderoga on the cvcinng of the 9th of May, 1775. 
With the utmost difficulty boats were procured, and 83 men were 
landed near the garrison. The approach of day rendering it dan- 
gerous to wait for the rear, it was determined immediately to 
proceed. The commander in chief now addressed his men, rep- 
resenting that they had l)een for a number of years a scourge to 
arbitrary power, and famed for their valor, and concluded with 
saying, " I now propose to advance before you, and in person 
conduct you through the wicket gate, and you, that will go with 
me voluntarily in this desperate attempt, poize your firelocks." 
At the head of the centre file he marched instantly to the gate, 
where a sentry s uipped his gun at him and retreated through the 
covered way ; he pressed forward into the fort, and formed his 
men on the parade in such a manner as to face two opposite bar- 
racks. Three huzzas awaked the garrison. A sentrv, who asked 
qur\ricr, pointed out the apartments of the commanding officer ; 
and Allen with a drawn sword over the head of captain De la Place, 
who was undrcss'ed, demanded the surrender of the fort. " By 
■what authority do you demand it ?** inquired the astonished com- 
mander. " I demand it," said Allen, " in the name of the great 
Jehovaii and of the continentMl congress." The summons could 
not be disobeyed, and the fort with its very vahrablc stores and 49 prie- 



ALL. 13 

fners was immediately surrendered. Crown Point was taken the 
same day, and the cupture of a sloop of Wi^r soon uftei wards made 
Allen and his brave party complete masters oi lake ChampUdn. 

In the fall of 1775 he was sent twice into Canada to observe the 
dispositions of the people, and attach them, if possible, to the 
American cause. During this last tour colonel Brown met him, 
and proposed an attack upon Montreal in concert. The proposal 
was eagerly embraced, and colonel Allen with 110 men, near 80 
of whom were Canadians, crossed the river in the night of Sept. 
24. In the morning he waited with impatience for the signal 
from colonel Brown, who agreed to cooperate with him ; but he 
waited in vain. He made a resolute defence against an attack of 
500 men, and it was not till his own party was reduced by deser- 
tions to the number of 31, and he had retreated near a mile, that 
he surrendered. A moment afterwards a furious savage rushed 
towards him, and presented his firelock with the intent of killing 
him. It was only b) rruking use of the body of the officer, to 
whom he had given his sword, as a shield, that he escaped de- 
struction. 

He was now kept for some time in irons and treated with great 
cruelty. He was sent to Englind as a prisoner, being assured that 
the halter would be the reward of his rebellion, when he arrived 
there. After his arrival about the middle of Dec. he was lodged 
for a short time in Pendennis castle, near Falmouth. On the 8th 
of Jan. 1776 he was put on board a frigate and by a circuitous route 
carried to Halifax, Here he remained confined in the gaol 
from June to October, when he Avas removed to New York. Dur- 
iniv the passage to this place, captain Burke, a daring prisoner, 
proposed to kill the British captain and seize the frigate ; but col- 
onel Allen refused to engage in the plot, and was probably the 
means of preserving the life of captdn Smith, who had treated 
him very politely. He was kept at New York about a year and a 
half, sometimes imprisoned, and sometimes permitted to be on 
parole. While here, be had an opportunity to observe the inhuman 
manner, in which the American prisoners were treated. In one 
of the churches, in which they were crowded, he saw seven lying 
dead at one time, and others biting pieces of chips from hunger. 
He calculated, that of the the prisoners taken at Long Island and 
fort Washington, near 2000 perished by hunger and cold, or in 
consequence of diseases occasioned by the impurity of their 
prisons. 

Colonel Allen was e>:changed for colonel Campbell May 6, 1778, 
and after having repaired to head quarters, and oflered his services 
to general Washington in case his health shoidd be restored, he 
returned to Vermont. His arrival on the evening of the last of 
May gave his friends great joy, and it was announced by the dis- 
charge of cannon. As an expression of confidence in his patriot- 



14 ALL. 

ism and military talents he was very soon appointed to the com- 
mand of the state inililia. It does not appear however, that his 
intrepidity was ever aijain brought to the test, though liis patriot- 
ism was tried by an unsuccesslid attempt of the British to bribe 
him to attempt a union of Vermont with Canada. He died sud- 
denly at his estate in Colchester Feb. 13, 1789. 

General Allen possessed strong powers of mind, but they nev- 
er felt the influence of education. Though he was brave, hu- 
mane, and generous ; yet his conduct does not seem to have been 
much influenced by considerations respecting that holy and mer- 
ciful Being, whose character and whose commands are disclosed 
to us in the scriptures. His notions with regard to religion were 
such, as to prove, that those, who rather confide in their own wis- 
dom than seek, instruction from heaven, may embrace absurdities, 
which would disgrace the understiinding of a child. He believed, 
with Pythagoras, that man ivfter death would transmigrate into 
beasts, birds, fishes, I'cptiles, kc, and often informed his friends, 
that he himself expected to live again in the form of a large white 
horse. 

Besides a number of pamphlets in the controversy with New 
York, he published in 1779 a narrative of his observations during 
his captivity, which has Ijeen lately reprinted ; a vindication of 
the opposition of the inhabitants of Vermont to the government 
of New York, and their right to form an independent state, 1779 ; 
and Allen's theology, or the oracles of reason, 1786, This last 
Avork was intended to ridicule the doctrine of Moses and the 
prophets. It would be unjust to bring against it the charge of 
having effected great mischief in the world, for few have had 
the patience to read it. 'llleii'a narrative ; Boston weeklij maga- 
zine^ vol.1'; Hardie's biogrii/ihy ; Holmes* annals^ ii. 329 ; JI7/- 
liams* Vermont ; Chronicle^ March 5, 1789 ; Alamhall's life of 
Wdafiing-ton, ii. 203 ; iii. 24 ; Gordon, ii. 13, 160. 

ALLISON (Francis, d. d.), assistant minister of the first pres- 
byterian church in Philadelphia, was born in Ireland in the year 
1705. He received an early classical education in the north of 
that kingdom at an academy under the particular inspection of the 
bishop of Raphoe, and afterwards completed his studies at the 
miiversity of Glasgow. He came to this country m 1735, and 
was soon appointed pastor of a presbytcrian church at New Lon- 
don in Chester county, Pennsylvania. Here about the year 1741 
his solicitude for the interests of the Redeemer's kingdom and 
his desire of engaging young men in the work of the ministry 
and of pro-.noting public happhicss by the diffusion of religious 
liberty and learning induced him to open a public school. There 
was at this time scarcely a particle of learning in the middle 
states, and he generally instructed all, tliat came to him, without 
fee or reward. 



AME. 1S< 

About the year 1747 an academy was established in Philadel- 
phia, and Dr. Allison was invited to take the oversight and instruc- 
tion of it. In 1755 he vv'as elected vice provost of the college, 
which had but a short time before been established, and professor 
of moral philosophy. He was also minister in the first presby- 
terian church. In the discharge of the laborious duties, which 
devolved upon him, he continued till his death. He died Nov, 
28, 1777, 

Besides an unusually accurate and profound acquaintance with 
the Latin and Greek classics, he was well informed in moral phi- 
4osophy, history, and general literature. To his zeal for the diffu- 
sion of knowledge Pennsylvania owes much of that taste for solid 
learning and classical literature, for which many of her principal 
characters have been so distmguished. 

The private virtues of Dr. Allison conciliated the esteem of all, 
that knew him, and his public usefulness has erected a lasting mon- 
ument to his praise. For more than 40 years he supported the 
ministerial character with dignity and reputation. In his public 
services he was plain, practical, and argumentative ; warm, animat- 
ed, and pathetic. He was greatly honored by the gracious Re- 
deemer in being made instrumental, as it is believed, in the salva- 
tion of many, who heard him. Indefatigable in study through the 
whole of his useful life, he acquired an unusual fund of learning, 
which rendered his conversation remarkably instructive, and qual- 
ified him for the superintendence of youth, and increased his use- 
fulness in the ministry. 

He was frank and ingenuous in his natural temper ; warm and 
zealous in his friendships ; catholic in his sentiments ; a friend to 
civil and religious liberty. His benevolence led him to spare no 
pains nor trouble in assisting the poor and distressed by his advice 
and influence, or by his own private liberality. It was he, who 
planned and was the means of establishing the widows' fund, which 
was remarkably useful. 

He often expressed his hopes in the mercy of God unto eternal 
life, and but a few days before his death said to Dr. Ewing, that he 
had no doubt, but that according to the gospel covenant he should 
obtain the pardon of his sins through the great Redeemer of man- 
kind, and enjoy an eternity of rest and glory in the presence of God. 

He published a sermon delivered before the synods of New York 
and Pennsylvania May 24, 175 8, entitled, peace and unity recom- 
mended. dsseml)lz/'s miss. mag. i. A57 — 361; Millcr^s retrosfiect.^ 

ii. 342 ; Holmes' life of Sdles, 98,99. 

AMERICUS (Vesputius), or more properly Amerigo Ves- 
pucci, a Florentine gentleman, from whom America derives its 
name, was born in 145 1 of a ve^y ancient family. His father, who 
was an Italian merchant, brought him up in this business, and his 
profession led him to visit Spain and other countries. Being enii- 



16 AME. 

ncntly skilful in all the sciences subservient to navigation, and poS- 
scssiiij; ail tiilcipiisin}^ spirit, he became desirous ot seeing the 
new woilil, which Ci^lumbus iuid uiscovered in 14^2, He accor- 
dini;;iy entered as a mercUant on board ttie small lleet ot" tour ships^ 
C(piipped by the merchants of Seville and sent out under the com- 
mand of Ojeda. Tne enterprise was sanctioned by a royal license. 

According to Vespucci's own account he sailed from Cadiz May 
20, 14'J7, and returned to the same port October 15, 1498, having 
discovered the coast of Pariaund passed as fur as the gulph of Mex- 
ico. If this statement is correct, Americus saw the continent be- 
fore Columbus ; but its correctness is controverted, and the voy- 
age of Ojeda is generally supposed to have been made in 1499. 

\'espucci dates the comm«ncement of his second voyage under 
the auspices of Ferdinand and Isabella, in which he had the com- 
mand of six vessels, May 11, 1499. He proceeded to the Antilla is- 
lands, and tiienceto the coast of Guiana and Veniiezuela, and return- 
ed to Cadiz in Novemb. 1 500. He retired to Sevihc, receiving little 
acknowledgement fron^the Spaniards for his services, and was deep- 
ly atYecied by their ingratitude. Emanuel, king of Portugal, who 
■was jealous of the success and glory of Spain, having been uiform- 
ed of his dissatisfaction, invited him to his kingdom, and gave him 
the command of three ships to make a third voyage of discovery. 
He sailed from Lisbon May 10, 1501, and ran •. own the coasts 
of Africa as far as SieiTa Leone and the coast of Angola, and then 
passed over to Brazil in South America and continued his discove- 
ries to the south as far as Patagonia. He then returned to Sierra 
Leone and the coast of Guinea, and entered again the port of Lis- 
bon Sep. 7, 1502. 

King Emanuel, highly gratified by his success, equipped for him 
six ships, with which he sailed on his fourth and last voyage May- 
ID, 1503. It was his object to discover a western passage to the 
Molucca islands. He passed the coasts of Afiica, and entered the 
bay of All Saints in Brazil. Having provision for only 20 months, 
and being detained on the coast of Brazil by bad weather and con- 
trary winds five months, he formed the resolution of returning to 
Portugal, where he arrived June 14, 1504. Ashe carried home 
Aviih him considerable quantities of the Brazil wood, and otiier ar- 
ticles of value, he was received with joy. It was soon after this pe- 
riod, that he wrote an account of his four voyages. The work was 
dedicated to lienc II, duke of Lorraine, who took the title of king 
of Sicily, and who died Dec. 10, 1508. It was prolwbly published 
«bo\it the year 1507, for in that year he went from Lisbon to Se- 
ville, and king Ferdinand appointed him to draw sea charts with the 
title of chief pilot. He died at the island of Tercera in 1 5 U aged 
about 63 years. 

As he published the first book and chart, descriliing the new 
^orldj'ajid a^ he claimed the honor of first discovering the conti- 



AME. 17 

ncnt, the new world has received from him the name of America. 
His pretensions however to this first discovery do not seem to be 
well supported against the claims of Columbus, to whom the hon- 
or is uniformly ascribed by the Spanish historians, and who first 
saw the continent in 1498. Herrera, who compiled his general 
history of America from the most authentic records, says, that 
Americus never made but two voyages, and those were with Oje- 
da in 1499 and 1501, and that his relation of his other voyages was 
proved to be a mere imposition. This charge needs to be confirm- 
ed by strong proof, for Vespucci's book was published within ten 
years of the period, assigned for his first voyage, when the facts 
must have been fresh in the memories of thousands. Besides the 
improbability of his being guilty of falsifying dates, as he was ac- 
cused, which arises from this circumstance ; it is very possible, 
that the Spanish writers might have felt a national resentment 
against him for having deserted the service of Spain. But the 
evidence against the honesty of Vespucci is very convincing. Nei- 
ther Martyr nor Benzoni, who were Italians, natives of the same 
country, and the former of whom was a contemporary, atti'ibute to 
him, the first discovery of the continent. Martyr published the 
first general history of the new world, and his epistles contain an 
account of all the remarkable events of his time. All the Spanish 
historians are against Vespucci. Herrera brings against him the 
testimony of Ojeda as given in a judicial inquiry. Fonseca, whQ 
gave Ojeda the license for his voyage, was not reinstated in the di- 
rection of Indian affairs until after the time, which Vespucci as- 
signs for the commencement of his first voyage. Other circum- 
stances might be mentioned ; and the whole mass of evidence it is 
difficult to resist. The book of Americus was probably published 
about a year after the death of Columbus, when his pretensions 
could be advanced without the fear of refutation from that illustri- 
ous navigator. But however this controversy may be decided, 
it is well known, that the honor of first discovering the continent 
belongs neither to Columbus nor to Vespucci, even admitting the 
relation of the latter ; but to the Cabots, who sailed from England. 
A life of Vespucci was published at Florence by Bandini, 1745, in 
which an attempt is made to support his pretensions. 

The relation of his four voyages, which was first published about 
the year 1507, was republished in the Novus Orbis, fol. 1555.—. 
Mbreri, diet, historique ; JVenu and gen. biog. dictionary ; Hardie ; 
Robertson's S. America., \. JVote xxii ; Holmes' annals., 1.22 ; Jler- 
rera, i. 221 ; Prince, introd. 80—82. 

AMES (Fisher, ll.d.), a distinguished statesman, and an elo- 
quent orator, was born at Dedham, Massachusetts, in which town 
his father was a respectable physician. He was graduated at Har- 
vard college in 1774, and after a few years commenced the study 
of the laAv in Boston. He began the practice of his profession in 



18 AME. 

his native village ; but his (jxpoiisive mind could not be confined IQ 
the iiivfsiii^aiion of the luw. Risbg into lite about the period of 
the Ameriuui revolution and Uking a most affectionate interest i^ 
the concerns ot liis country, he felt himself strongly attracted tq 
politics. His researches into tlie science of government were ex- 
tensive and profound, and he began to l>e known by political discust- 
sAons, published in the newspapers. A theatre soon presented fo^ 
tiie display ot liis extraordinary ulents. He was elected arpembei; 
of the convention of his native sUte, which considered and ratified 
tl^c federal constitution ; and his speeches in this convention were 
indications of his future eminence. The splendor of his talents 
burst torth at once upon his country. 

When the general government of the United States cominence(| 
its operations in 1789, he appeared in the national legislature as, 
the first representative of his district, and for eight successive 
years he took a distinguished part in the national councils. He wag 
a principal speaker in the debates on every important question. 
Towards the close of this period his health began to fail, but his in- 
disposition could not prevent Idni from engaging in the discussion, 
relating to the appropriations, necessary for carrying into effect th^ 
British treaty. Such was the effect of his speech of April 28, 1796ii 
tjiat one of the memlicrs of the legislature, who was opposed tft, 
Mr. Ames, rose and objected to taking a vote at that time, as thej^ 
had been carried away by the impulse of oratory. 

After his return to his family, frail in health and fond of retire* 
raent, he remained a private citizen. For a few years however h^ 
■^vas persviadcd to become a member of the council. But though 
he continued chiefly in retirement, he operated far around him by; 
his writinj^s in the public papers. A few years before liis death he 
was cliosenprcsident of Harvai'd college, but the infirm state of his 
health induced him to decline the appointment. He died on the 
momingof July 4, 1808. 

Mr. Ames possessed a mind of a great and extraordinary clwfr 
actcr. He reasoned, but he did not reason in the form of logic. 
By striking allusions more than by regular deductions he compel- 
led assent. The richness of his fancy, the fertility of his inventiorv^ 
and the abundance of his thoughts were as remarkable as the just- 
ness and strength of his understanding. His political luiracter 
may be known from his writings, and speeches, and measures. 

He was not only a man of distinguished talents, whose public 
career was splendid, but he was amiable in private life and endeared 
to his acquaintance. To a few friends he unveiled himself with- 
out reserve. They found him modest and unassuming, untainted 
with ambition, simple in manners, correct in morals, and a model 
of every social and personal virtue. The charms of his convet- 
•i^xiQu. were unequalled. 



AME. 10 

rie enterttuned a firm belief iii Christianity, and his belief Avas 
Ibunded upon a thorough investigation of the subject. He read 
inost of the best writings in defence of the christian religion) but 
Jiis mind was satisfied by a view rather of its internal than its ex- 
ternal evidences. He thought it impossible, that any man of a 
fair mind could read the old testament and meditate on its con- 
tents without a conviction of its truth and inspiration. The sub- 
lime and correct ideas, which the Jewish scriptures convey of God, 
connected with the fact that all other nations, many of whom were 
superior to the Jews in civilization and general improvement, re- 
inamed in darkness and error on this fundamental subject, formed 
in his view a conclusive argurhent. After reading the book of 
t)euteronomy he expressed his astonishment, that any man, versed 
in antiquities, could have the hardihood to say, that it was the pro- 
duction of human ingenuity. Marks of divinity, he said, were 
stamped upon it. His views of the doctrines of religion were gen- 
erally Calvinistic. An enemy to metaphysical and controversial 
theology, he disliked the use oftechiiical and sectarian phrases. The 
term trinity however he frequently used with reverence, and in a 
manner, which implied his belief of the doctrine. His persuasion 
of the divinity of Christ he often declared, and his belief of this 
truth seems to have resulted from a particidar investigation of the 
subject, for he remarked to a friend, that he once read the evan- 
gelists with the sole purpose of learning what the Savior had said 
of himself. 

He was an admirer of the common translation of the Bible. He 
said it was a specimen of pure English ; and though he acknowl= 
edged, that a few phrases had grown obsolete, and that a few passage 
es might be obscurely translated, yet he should consider the 
adoption of any new translation as an incalculable evil. He la- 
mented the prevailing disuse of the Bible in our schools. He 
thought (hat children should early be made acquainted with the 
important truths, which it contains, and he considered it as a prin- 
cipal instrument of making them acquainted with their own lan^ 
guage m its purity. He said, " I will hazard the assertion, that 
ho man ever did or ever will become truly eloquent, without being 
a constant reader of the Bible, and an admirer of the purity and 
sublimity of its language." 

He recommended the teaching of the assembly's catechism ^ 
not perhaps because he was perfectly satisfied with every expres- 
sion, but because, as he remarked, it was a good thing on the whole, 
because it had become venerable by age, because our pious 
ancestors taught it to their chikh'en with happy effect, and because 
he was opposed to innovation, unwilling to leave an old, experienced 
path for one new and uncertain. On the same ground he approved 
the use of Watts' version of the Psalms and Hymns. No unin^ 
spired man, in his judgment, had succeeded so well as Watts in 
Mniting with the sentiments of piety the embellishments of poetryu!, 



20 AMH. 

Mr. Ames made a public profession of religion in the first 
congregational church in Dcclham. With this church he regularly 
communed till precluded by indisposition from attending public 
worship. His practice corresponded with his profession. His 
life was regular and irreproachable. Few, who have been placed 
in similar circumstances, have been less contaminated by intercourse 
with the world. It is doubted, whether any one ever heard him 
utter an expression, calculated to excite an impious or impure 
idea. The most scrutinizing eye discovered in him no disguise or 
hypocrisy. His views of himself however were humble and 
abased. He was often observed to shed tears, while speaking of 
his closet devotions and experiences. He lamented the coldness 
of his heart and the wanderings of his thoughts while addressing 
himself to his Maker or meditating on the precious truths, which 
he had revealed. 

In his last sickness, when near his end, and when he had just 
expressed his belief of his approaching dissolution, he exhibited 
submission to the divine will and the hope of the divine favor. 
" I have peace of mhid," said he. " It may arise from stupidity ; 
but I think it is founded on a belief of the gespel." At the same 
time he disclaimed every idea of meriting salvation. " IVIy hope," 
said he, " is in the mercy of God, through Jesus Christ." 

Mr. Ames' speech in relation to the British treaty, which was 
delivered April 28, 1796, is considered as a fine specimen of 
eloquence. He published an oration on the death of Washington 
in 1800, and he wrote much for the newspapers. His political 
writings were published in 1809, in one volume, 8vo. — Panofilist 
for July 1808; Dcxter's fun. eulogy in the Repertoryy July B ; 
Marshall's life of Washing to7i, v. 203. 

AMHERST (Jefferv, lord), commander in chief of the Brit- 
ish army at the conquest of Canada in 1760, was born in Kent, 
England, Jan. 29, 1717. Having early discovered a predilection 
for the military life, he received his first commission in the army 
in 1731, and was aid de camp to general'Ligonier in 1741, in which 
character he was present at the battles of Dettingen, Fontenoy, 
and Rocoux. He was afterward aid de camp to his royal highness, 
the duke of Cumberland, at the battle of LaflTeldt. In 1758 he 
received orders to return to England, l)eing appointed for the A- 
merican service. He sailed from Portsmouth March 16th as ma- 
jor general, having the command of tlie troops destined for the 
siege of Louisburgh. On the 26th of July following he captured 
that place, and without farther difficulty took entire possession of 
the island of Cape Breton. After this event he succeeded Aber- 
erombie in the command of the army on North America. In 1759 
the vast design of the entire conquest of Canada was formed. 
Three armies Avcre to attack at near the same lime all the strong 
holds of the French in that country. They were commanded by 



AND. 21 

Wolfe, Amherst, and Prideaux. General Amherst in the spring 
transferi'cd his head quarters from New Vork to Albany; but it 
was not till the 22d of July, that he reached Ticonderoga, against 
which place he was to act. On the 27th this place fed into his 
hands, the enemy having deserted it. He next took Crown Point, 
and put his troops in winter quarters about the last of October. 
In the year 1760 he advanced against Canada, embarking on lake 
Ontario, and proceeding down the St. Lawrence. On the 8th of 
September M. de Vaudreuil capitulated, surrendering Montreal 
and all other places within the government of Canada. 

He continued in the command in America till the latter end of 
1763, when he x'eturned to England. In 1771 he was made gov- 
ernor of Guernsey, and in 1776 he was created baron Amherst of 
Holmsdale in the county of Kent. In 1778 he had the command 
of the army in England. In 1782 he received the gold stick from 
the king ; but on the change of the administration the command of 
the army and the lieutenant generalship of the ordnance were put 
into other hands. In 1787 he received another patent of peerage, 
as baron Amherst of Montreal. On the 23d of January 1793 he 
was again appointed to the command of the army in Great Britain; 
but on the 10th of February 1795 this veteran and very deserving 
officer was superseded by his royal highness, the duke of York, 
the second son of the king, who was only in the thirty first year of 
his age, and had never seen any actual service. The government 
upon this occasion with a view lo soothe the feelings of the old gen- 
eral offered him an earldom, and the rank of field marshal, both of 
which he at that time rejected. The office of field marshal how- 
ever he accepted on the 30th of July, 1796. He died at his seat ia 
Kent August 3, 1797, aged eighty years. — Wat kins ; Hardie ; 
Hohnes* anrialsy li. 226 — 246,498; Marshall,!. 44:2 — 470; Minoty 
ii. 36. , 

ANDRE (John), aid de camp to sir Henry Clinton, and adju- 
tant general of the British army in Ameiica during the late war, 
was born in England in 1741. He Avas in early life a merchant's 
clerk, but obtained a commission in the army at the age of seven- 
teen. Possessing an active and enterprising? disposition and the 
most amiable and accomplished manners he soon conciliated the 
esteem and friendship of his superior officers, and rose to the rank 
of major. 

After Arnold had intimated to the British in 1780 his intention of 
delivering up West Point to them, major Andre was selected as the 
person, to whom the matviring of Arnold's treason and the ar-^ 
rangements for its execution should be committed. A correspon- 
dence was for some time carried on between them under a mer- 
cantile disguise and the feigned names of Gustavus and Anderson ; 
and at length to facilitate their communications the Vulture sloop 
of war moved up the North river and took a station convenient foi"^ 



22 AND. 

the "purpose, but not so near as to excite suspicion. An interview 
Was ajjrced on, and in the nitjht of September the twenty first 1780 
he was taken in a l)oat, wliicli was dispatched for the purpose, and 
carried to the beach without the posts of both armies under a pass 
for Joim Anderson. He met general Arnold at the house of a 
Mr. Smith. While the conference Avas yet unfinished, day 
light approached ; and to avoid the danger of discovery it was 
proposed, that he should remain concealed till the succeed- 
ing night. He is understood to have refused to be carried 
within tiic American posts, but the promise made him by Arnold 
to respect this objection was not observed. He was carried within 
them contrary to his wishes and against his knowledge. He con- 
tinued with Arnold the succeeding day, and when on the following 
liight he proposed to return to the Vulture, the boatman refused to 
carry him, because she had diu'ing the day shifted her station in 
consequence of a gun having been moved to the shore and brought 
to bear upon her. This embarrassing circumstance reduced him 
to the necessity of endeavouring to reach New York by land. 
Yielding with reluctance to the urgent representations of Arnold, 
he laid aside his regimentals, v^hich he had hitherto worn under asur- 
tout,andputon a plain suit of clothes; and receiving a pass from the 
American general, authorizing liim, under the feigned name of John 
Anderson, to proceed on the public sen'ice to(the White Plains or low- 
cr,if he thought proper, he set out on his retuni. He had passed all 
the guards and posts on the road without suspicion,and was proceed- 
ing to New York in perfect security, when, on the twenty third of 
September, one of the three niilitia men, who were employed with 
others in scouting parties between the lines of the two armies, spring- 
ing suddenly from his covert into the road, seized the reins of 
his bridle and stopped his horse. Instead of producing his pass, 
Andre, with a want of self possession, which can be attributed only 
to a kind providence, asked the man hastily, where he belonged, and 
being answered, "to below," replied immediately, " and so do I.'* 
He then declared himself to be a British officer, on urgent business, 
and begged that he might not be detained. The other two militia 
men coming up at this moment, he discovered his mistake ; but 
it was too late to repair it. He offered a purse of gold and a val- 
uable watch, to which he added tlie most tempting promises of 
ample reward and permanent provision from the government, if 
they would permit him to escape ; but his offers were rejected 
without hesitation. 

The militia men, whose names were John Paulding, David Wil- 
liams, and Isaac VauAvert, proceeded to search him. They found 
concealed in his boots exact returns, in Arnold's hand writing, of 
the state of the forces, ordnance, and defences at West Point and 
iw dependencies, critu al remarks on the works, and an estimate of 
the men ordinarily employed in them, with other interesting papers. 



AND. 83 

Aridi^ waSs carried before lieutenant colonel Jatneso?!, the officer 
commanding the scoutijig parties on the lines, and, regai'dless of 
Himselt and only anxious for the safety of Arnold, he still main- 
tained the character, which he had assumed, and requested Jame- 
son to inform his commanding officer, that Anderson was taken. 
An express was accox'dingly dispatched, and the traitor, thus be- 
coming acquainted with his danger, escaped. 

A board of general officers, of which major general Greene was 
president, and the two foreign generals, La Fayette and Steuben^ were 
njembers, was called to report a precise state of the case of Andi^, 
t«:ho had acknowledged himself adjutant general of the British ar- 
my, and to determine in what character he was to be considered, 
£ftid to what punishment he was liable. He received from the board, 
^very mark oi indulgent attention ; and from a sense of justice, as 
well as of delicacy, he was informed on the first opening of the ex- 
amination, that he was at perfect liberty not to answer any interrogato- 
i;y, which might embarrass his own feelings. Buthe disdained every, 
evasion, and frankly acknowledged every thing, which was material 
to his condemnation. The board, which met on the twenty ninth of 
September, did not examine a single witness, but, founding theic 
report entirely upon his own confession, reported that he camet 
within the description of a spy and ought to suffer death. The 
execution of this sentence was ordered on the day succeeding that> 
on which it was rendered. 

The greatest exertions were made by sir Henry Clinton, tq 
whom Andre was particularly dear, to rescue him from his fate. 
It was first represented that he came on shore under the sanction 
of a flag ; but Washington returned an answer to Clinton, in Avhich 
l)e stated, that Andre had liimself disclaimed the pretext. An in- 
tjprview was next proposed between lieutenant general Robertson 
and general Greene ; but no facts, which had not before been con- 
sidered, were made known. When every other exertion fEuledj 
a, letter from Arnold, filled with threats, was presented. 

Andre w^s deeply affected by the mode of dying, which the laws of 
war had decreed to persons in his situation. He wished to die an 
a soldier and not as a criminal. To obtain a mitigation of his sen- 
tence in this respect, he addressed a letter to general Washington, 
replete with all the feelings of a man of sentiment and honor. The 
<;ommander in chief consulted his officers on the subject ; but as 
Andre unquestionably came under the description of a spy, it was 
thought, that the public good required his punishment to be in the 
usual way. The decision however, from tenderness to Andre, was 
not divulged. He encountered his fate on the second of October 
with a composure, dignity, and fortitude, which excited the admi- 
ration and interested the feelings of all, who were present. He ex- 
hibited some emotion, when he first beheld the preparations at the 
fiital spot;, apd inquired, « must I die in this manner ? " Ha sojs* y 



24 AND. 

aftcnvartls added, " it will be but a momentary pang ;" and being 
asked, illie hacUny request to make before he left the world, he 
answered, " none, but that you will witness to the world, that I 
die like a brave man." 

While one weeps at the ignominious death of a man so much 
esteemed and beloved, it would have given some relief to the pain- 
ed mind, if he huddled more like a christian and less like a soldier. 
The sympathy, excited among the American officers by his fate, 
was as universal, as it is unusual on such occasions ) and proclaims 
alike the merit of him, who suffered, and the humanity of those, 
who inflicted the punishment. In a letter, written at the time by 
colonel Hamilton, the character of Andre is thus elegantly drawn. 
»* There was something singularly interesting in the character and 
fortunes of Andre. To an excellent understanding, well improved 
by education and travel, he united a peculiar elegance of mind and 
manners, and the advantages of a pleasing person. It is said he 
possessed a pretty taste for the fine arts, and had himself attained 
some proficiency in poetry, music, and painting. His knmvledgc 
appeared without ostentation, and embellished by a diffidence, that 
rarely accompanies so many talents and accomplishments, which 
left you to suppose more than appeared. His sentiments were el- 
evated and inspired esteem ; they had a softness, that conciliated 
affection. His elocution was handsome, his address easy, polite, 
and insinuating. By his merit he had acquired the unlimited con- 
fidence of his general, and was making rapid progress in military 
rank and reputation. But in the height of his career, flushed with 
new hopes from the execution of a project, the most beneficial to 
his party, that could be devised, he is at once precipitated from 
the summit of prosperity, sees all tne expectations of his ambition 
blasted, and himself ruined. The character I have given of him is 
drawn partly from what I saw of him myself, and partly from in- 
ibrmation. I am aM'are, that a man of real merit is never seen in 
so favorable a light as through the medium of adversity. The 
clouds, that surround him, are so many shades, that set off his 
good cjualities. Misfortune cuts down little vanities, that in pros- 
perous times serve as so many spots in his virtues, and gives a tone 

to humanity, that makes his worth more amiable." ^Inn. Keg^I tcr 

/or 1781, r>9 — 46; Marshall, iv. 277 — 286; Gordo//, iii. 481 — 490; 
Strdman, ii. 249 — 253 ; Holmes, ii. 438 ; Hardic ; Penns. Gaz.for 
Oct. 25, 1780; Ramsau,n. 196 — 201. 

ANDROS (Edmund), governor of New England, had some 
command in New York in 1672, and in 1674 was appointed gover- 
nor of tliat province. He continued in this office till 1 682, exhibit- 
ing in this government but little of that tyrannical disposition, 
which he afterwards displayed. He arrived at Boston Dec. 20, 
1686, Willi a commission from king James for the t!;ovemment of 
New England. He made high professions of regard to the public 



AND. 25 

gocxJ, directed the judges to administer justice according to the 
custom of the place, ordered the established rules with respect to 
rates and taxes to be observed, and declared, tl\at all the colony- 
laws, not inconsistent with his commission, should remain in full 
force. By these professions he calmed the apprehensions, which 
had agitated the minds of many ; but it was not long before the 
monster stood forth in his proper shape. 

His administt ation was most oppressive and tyrannical. The 
press was restrained, exorbitant taxes were levied, and the congre- 
gational ministers were threatened to be deprived of their support 
for nonconformity. Sir Edmund, knowing that his royal master 
was making great progress towards despotism in England, v/as ve- 
ry willing to keep equal pace in his less important government. 
It was pretended, that all titles to land were destroyed ; and the 
farmers were obliged to take new patents, for which they paid large 
fees. He prohibited marriage, except the parties entered into bonds 
with sureties to be forfeited in case there should afterwards appear 
to have been any lawful impediment. There was at this time but 
one episcopal clergyman in the country ; but sir Edmund indulg- 
ed the hope of receiving a supply, and he wrote to the bishop of 
London, intimating for the encouravrement of those, who might 
be persuaded to come to this country, that in future no marriage 
should be deemed lawful, unless celebrated by ministers of the 
church of England. With four or five of his council he laid what 
taxes he thought proper. The fees of office were raised to a most 
exorbitant height. 

The whole of his proceedings were such as to show, that he was 
perfectly disposed to follow all the capricious and arbitrary meas- 
ures of his weak and bigotted master, king James H. At length 
the spirit of the people could no longer b"ook submission. Hav- 
ing sought in the wilds of America the secure enjoyment of that 
civil and religious liberty, of which they had been unjustly depriv- 
ed in England, they were not disposed to see their dearest rights 
wrested from them without a struggle to retain them. Animated 
withthe love of liberty, they were also resolute and courageous in its 
defence. They had for several years suffered the impositions of a 
tyrannical administration, and the dissatisfaction and indignation, 
which had been gathering during this period, were blown into a 
flame by the report of an intended massacre by the govei'nor's 
guards. On the morning of the 18th of April 1689 the inhabi- 
tants of Boston took up arms, the people poured in from the coun- 
try, and the governor with such of the council, as had been most ac- 
tive, and other obnoxious persons about fifty in number, were seiz- 
ed and confined. The old magistrates were restored, and the next 
month the joyful news of the revolution in England reached this 
country, and quieted all apprehension of the consequences of what 
had been done. After having been kept at the castle till February 



26 APR 

following-, sir Edmund was sent to England for trial. The general 
court about the same time dispatched a committee of several gen- 
tlemen to substantiate the charges against iiim. ' 

The government was reduced to a most perplexing dilemma. 
If they condemned sir Edmund's administration, the sentence 
might be drawn into a precedent, and they might seem to encour- 
age insurrection and rebellion in future jxeriods, when circumstan- 
ces did not render so desperate an expedient necessary. On the 
other hand, if they should approve of tlie administration of Andros 
and censure the proceedings of tlie colonists, it would imply a rep- 
robation of tlic very measure, which had i)een pursued in bringing 
about the revolution in England. It was therefore considered pru- 
dent to dismiss the business without coming to a final decision. 
The people were accordingly left hi the full enjoyment of their 
freedom ; and sir Edmund, in pualic estimation guilty, escaped 
without censure. 

In 1692 he was appointed governor of Virginia, as successor to 
lord EfTmgham. This eveni was very surprising, and it was ac- 
counted for only on the supposition, that the English ministry was 
composed of torics. He is not however represented as a bad gov- 
ernor of Virginia. He died in London Feb. 1714, at a very ad- 
vanced age. 

His narrative of his proceedings in New England was published 
in 1691. — /futchinson,!. 353,387 — 395 ; ii. 208 ; Douglass, ii. 247 y 
272, 369 ; Holmes,\. 418,475 ; ii. 12, 89 ; Hardie. 

APPLETON (Nathaniel, d.d.), minister of Cambridge, 
Massachusetts, was born at Ipswich, December 9, 1693. His fa- 
ther was the honorable John Appleton, one of the king's council, 
and for tvcnty years judge of probate in the county of Essex, and 
his mother was the eldest daughter of president Rogers. He was 
graduated at Harvard college in 1712. Afier completing his edu- 
cation, an opportunity presented of entering into commercial busi- 
ness on very advantageous terms with an uncle in Boston, who was 
an opulent merchant ; but he resolved to forego erery worldly ad- 
\Tintagc, that he might promote the interest of the Redeemer's 
kingdom. Soon after he begun to preach he was invited to suc- 
ceed the reverend Mr. Brattle in the ministry at Cambridge, and was 
ordained October 9, 1717. On this occasion Dr. Incrci'se Mather 
preachfd the sermon and gave tlie charge, and Dr. Cotton Mather 
gave the right hand of fellowship. He was the same year elected 
a fellow of Harvard college, which ofifice he sustained above 60 
years, faithfully consulting and essentially promoting the interests 
of the institution. In 1771 the university conferred On him the 
degiec of doctor of divinity, an honor, which had been conferred 
upon but one person previously to this, and that was the reverend 
Increase Mather, about eighty years before. Degrees have since 
hccomt more frequent and less honorable. The usefulness of 



APP. 27 

Dr. Appleton was diminished for a few of his last years through 
the infiriTUties of age, but did not entirely cease except with his 
life. He received the reverend Mr. Hiiliard as his colleague in 
J783. After a ministry of more than sixty six years, he died Feb. 
9, 1784, in the nhiety first year of his age. This country can fur- 
nish tew instances of more useful talents, and more exemplary 
piety, exhibited for so long a time and with such great success. 
During his ministry two thousand one hundred and thirty eight 
persons were baptized, and seven hundred and eighty four admitted 
members of the church. 

Dr. Appleton was as venerable for his piety as for his years. 
His whole character was patriarchal. In his dress, in his manners, 
in his conversation, in his ministry, he resembled the puritan min- 
isters, who first settled New England. He lived from the close of 
one century to near the close of another, and he brought down with 
him the habits of former times. His natural temper was cheer- 
ful, but his habitual deportment was grave. Early consecrated to 
God, and having a fixed predilection for the ministry, by the union 
of good sense with deep seriousness, of enlightened zeal with con- 
summate prudence, he was happily fitted for the pastoral office. 

He preached with great plainness and with primitive simplicity. 
In oi'der to accommodate his discourses to the meanest capacity 
he frequently borrowed similitudes from familiar, sometimes from 
vulgar objects ; but his application of them was so pertinent and 
liis utterance so solemn, as to suppress levity and silence criticism. 
Deeply sensible of the fallen state of man, he admired^the wisdom, 
holiness, and mercy, which are displayed in the plan of redemp- 
tion through.-a glorious Savior. From the abundance of his heart, 
filled with the love of God, he spake with such fervor, as was fit- 
ted to inspire his hearers with pious sentiments and affections. 

He possessed the learning of his time. The scriptures he read 
in the originals. His exposition, preached in course on the sab- 
bath, com.prehended the whole new testament, the prophecy of 
Isaiah, and some of the other prophets. It was chiefly designed to 
promote practical piety ; but on the prophetical parts he discover- 
ed a continued attention, extent of reading, and depth of research, 
which come to the share of but very few. In his preaching he 
carefully availed himself of special occurrences, and his discours- 
es on such occasions were peculiarly solemn and impressive. 
With the fidelity and plainness of a christian minister, he admin- 
istered reproofs and admonitions, and maintained with parental ten- 
derness and pastoral authority the discipline of the church. By 
his desire a committee was appointed, and continued for many 
years, fo'r inspecting the manners of professing chiistiiaUs. So 
great was the ascendency, which he gained over his people by his 
discretion and moderation, by his condescension and benevolence, 
by his fidelity and j)iety, that they regarded his counsels as oracu- 
lar. 



28 ARC. 

In controversial and difficult cases he was often applied to 
for advice at ecclesiastical councils. Impartial yet pacific, lirm yet 
conciliatory, he was peculiarly qualified for a counsellor, and in 
that character he ni,.teriully contributed to the unity, the peace, 
and order of the churches. Witii the wisdom of the serpent he 
happily united tlic innocence of the dove. In his religious princi- 
ples he was a Calvinist, as were all his predecessors in the minis- 
try, Hooker. Stone, Shepard, Mitchel, Oakcs, Gookin, and Brat- 
tle. But towards those of diflerent principles he was candid and 
catholic. 

His own example enforced the duties, which he enjoined upon 
others. He was humble, meek, and benevolent. He was ready 
at all times to relieve the distressed, and through life he devoted a 
tenth part of his whole income to pious and charitable uses. He 
was ever a firm friend to the civil and religious liberties of man- 
kind, and was happy in living to see the estal)lishment of peace and 
independence in his native land. He deserves honorable re- 
membrance for his exertions to send the gospel to the Indians. 
Under his many heavy trials he was submissive and patient. When 
his hifirmitics had in a great measure terminated his usefulness, 
he expressed his desire to depart and be with Christ. Ht at length 
calmly resigned his spirit into the hands of its Redeemer. 

His pul)lications are the following ; the wisdom of God in the 
ref'.cmption of man, 1728 ; a sermon at the artillery election, 
1733 ; on evangelical aiid saving repentance, 1741 ; discourses on 
Romans viii. 14, 1743 ; funeral sermons occasioned by the death 
of president Leverett, 1724 ; of the honorable Francis Foxcroft, 
1728 ;^of president Wadsworth, 1737 ; of reverend John Han- 
cock, 1752; of the honorable Spencer Phips, 1757; of Henry 
Fiynt, esq. 1760; of reverend Dr. Wiggleswoith, 1765; of 
president Holyoke, '769; sermons at the ordination of reverend 
Josiah Cotton, 1728 ; of reverend John Sergeant, 1735 ; of rev- 
erend John Sparhawk, 1736; of reverend Matthew Bridge, 1746; 
of reverend O.Peabody jun. 1750 ; of reverend Stephen Badger, 
1753 ; a sermon at the general election, 1742 ; at the convention 
of ministers, 1743 ; two discourses on a fast for public calamities, 
particularly for the destruction of the court house, 1748 ; on the 
difference between a legal and evan'j:elical justification, 1749; at 
the Boston 1 -cure, 1763 ; against profane swearing, 1765 ; a 
thanksgiving sermon for the conquest of Canada, 1760 ; for the re- 
peal of the stamp act, 1766 — Holtnct'' history of Cambridge ; Col- 
lectiona of (hr hiftf. nocieti/^ vii. 37, 3 9 — 63 ; x. 158 ; American he- 
rald, Frh. 2 3. 1784; Indcprndcnt chronicle, March 4, 1784. 

ARCHDALF (John), governor of C Tolina, was appointed to 
this office by the proprietors, after lord Ashley had declined ac- 
cepting it. He arrived in the summer of 1695. The settlers re- 
ctivcd him with universal joy. The colony had been in much confu- 



ARG. 29 

sioti, bixt order was now restored. The assembly was called, and the 
governor by tne discreet use oi'his extensive powers settled almost ev- 
ery public concern to the satisfaction of the people. The price of lands 
and the form of conveyances wei'e settled by law. Magistrates 
were ap.jointed for hearing all causes, and determining all differ- 
ences between the settlers and the Indians, Public roads were or- 
dered to be made and water passages cut. The planting of rice, which 
has since become the great source of the opulence ot Carolina, was 
introduced. A captain of a vessel from Madagascar on his way to 
Great Britain anchored off SuUxvan's island and made a present to 
the governor of a bag ot seed rice, which he had brought from the 
east. This rice the governor diviaed among some of his friends, 
who agreed to make an experiment. 'I'he success equalled their 
expectation, and from this small begimiing arose the staple com- 
modity of Carolina. 

He continueci, it is believed, but five or six years in his government. 
After his return to London, he published a work entitled, a new de- 
scription of that fertile and pleasant province of Carolina with a 
brief account of its discovery, settling, and the government there- 
of to this time, with several remarkable passages during my time; 
1707. Holmeti' annals, ii. 23, 26 ; Heivatt, i. I 19, 129 — 131. 

ARG AL (Samuel), deputy governor of Virginia, came to that 
colony in 1609 to trade and to fish tor sturgeon. The trade was 
in violation of the laws ; but as the wine and provisions, which he 
brought, were much wanted, his conduct was connived at, and he 
continued to make voyages for his own advantage and in the ser- 
vice of the colony. In 1613 he arrived at the island, now called 
Mount Desart, in the District of Maine, for the purpose of fishing, 
and having discovered a settlement of the French, which was made 
two years before, he immediately attacked it and took most of the 
settlers prisoners. Gilbert de Thet, a Jesuit father, was killed in 
the engagement. This was the commencement of hostilities be- 
tween the French and English colonists in America. Captain Ar- 
gal soon afterwards sailed from Virginia to Acadie and destroyed, 
the French settlements of St. Croix and Port Royal. The pretext 
for this hostile expedition in time of peace was the encroachment 
of the French on the rights of the English, which were founded on 
the prior discovery of the Cabots. Argal on his return subdued 
the Dutch settlement at Hudson's river. In 1614 he went to Eng- 
land and returned in 1617 as deputy governor. On his arrival he 
found the public buildings at James Town fallen to decay, the mar- 
ket place and streets planted with tobacco, and the people of the 
colony dispersed in places, which they thought best adapted for 
cultivating that pernicious weed. To restore prosperity to the 
colony captain Argal introduced some severe regulations. He 
prohibited all trade or familiarity with the Indians. Teaching 



30 ARN. 

thein the use of arms was a crime to be punished by death. He 
ordered, tlmt all gocxis should be sold at an athMUce of 25 per cent, 
and fixed tiic price of tobacco at three shillings per pound. None 
could sell or buy it at a different prict: under the penalty of three 
years' imprisonment. No man was permitted to fire a gun, be- 
fore a new supply of ammunition, except in self defence, on pain 
of a year's sla\ery. Absence from church on Sundays or holidays 
was punished by confinement for the night and one week's slavery 
to the colony, and on a repetition of the offence the punishment was 
increased. 

The rigorotis execution of these laws rendered him odious in 
the colony, and the report of his tyranny and his depredations upon 
the revenues of the company reaching England, it was determined 
to recal him. Lord Delaware was directed to send him home to 
answer the charges brought against him ; but as his lordship did 
not reach Virgin ja, being summoned away from life while on his 
passage, the letter to him fell into the hands of Argal. Perceiving 
from it that the fine harvest, which now occupied him, would be 
soon ended, he redoubled his industry. He multiplied his acts of 
injvislice, and before the arrival of a new governor in 1619 set sail 
in a vessel, loaded with his effects. He was the partner in trade 
of the earl of Warwick, and by this connexion was enabled to de-' 
fraud the company of the restitution, ^vhich they had a right to ex- 
pect. Nothing more is known of Argal, except that in 1620 he 
commanded a ship of war in an expedition against the Algerines, 
and that in 1 623 he was knighted by king James. 

His character, like that of most, who were concerned in the gov- 
ernment of Virginia, is differently drawn ; by some he is repre- 
sented as a good mariner, a man of pulilic spirit, active, industrious, 
careful to provide for the people, and to keep them constantly em- 
ployed ; and by others he is described as negligent of the public 
business, selfish, rapacious, passionate, arbilrarv, and cruel, push- 
ing his unrighteous gains in every way of extortion and oppression. 
He was, without cpiestion, a man of talents and ait, for he so foil- 
ed and peiplcxed the company, that they were never able to bring 
him to any accoimt or punishment.— i?f//t77fl/?'s hiog. ii. 51 — 63 ; 
Holme If* annals,!. 179, 191 ; Smith; Utith ; Harcliv ; Marshall^ \. 
56, 107. 

ARNOLD (Benedict), a major general in the American ar- 
my, and infamous for descrlir.g the caiise of his country, was early 
chosen captain of a volunteer company in New Haven, Connecticut, 
where he lived. After hearing of the battle of Lexington he im- 
mediately marched with his company for the American head quar- 
ters, and reached Cambridge April 29, 1775, 

He immediiitfly waited on the Massachusetts committee of safe- 
ty and informed them of the defenceless state of Ticonderoga. 
The committee appointed him a colonel, and commissioned him to 



ARN. 31 

raise four hundred men, and to take that fortress. He proceeded 
dh'ectly to Vermont, and when he arrived at Castleton was attend- 
ed by one servant only. Here he joined colonei Alien, and on May 
10th the fortress was taken. 

In the full of 1775 he was sent by the commander in chief to 
penetrate through the wilderness of the District of Maine into Ca- 
nada. On the 1 6th of September he commenced his march with 
about one thousand men, consisting of New England infantry, some 
volunteers, a company of artillery, and three companies of riflemen. 
One division was obli,a;ed to retm-n, or it would have perished by- 
hunger. After sustiuning almost incredible hardships he in six 
weeks arrived at Point Levi, opposite to Quebec. The appear- 
ance of an army, emerging from the wilderness, threw the city in- 
to the greatest consternation. In this moment of surprise Arnold 
might probably have become master of the place, but the small 
crafts and boats in the river were removed out of his reach. 

It seems that his approach was not altogether unexpected. He 
had imprudently, a number of days before, sent forward a letter to 
a friend by an Indian, who betrayed him. A delay of several days 
on account of the difficulty of passing the river was inevitable, and 
the critical moment was lost. 

On the 14th of November he crossed the St. Lawrence in the 
night ; and, ascending the precipice, which Wolfe had climbed 
before him, formed his small corps on the height near the memo- 
rable plains of Abraham. With only about seven hundred men, 
one third of whose muskets had been rendered useless in the march 
through the wilderness, success could not be expected. After pa- 
rading some days on the heights near the town, and sending two 
Qags to summon the inhabitants, he retired to Point aux Trembles, 
twenty miles above Quebec, and there waited the arrival of Mont- 
gomery, who joined him on the first of December. The city was 
immecUately besieged, but the best measures had been taken for 
its defence. On the morning of the last day of the yeai' an assault 
was made on the one side of the city by Montgomery, who was kill- 
ed. At the same time colonel Arnold, at the head of al>out three 
hundred and fifty men, made a desperate attack on the opposite side. 
Advancing with the utmost intrepidity along the St. Charles through 
a narrow path, exposed to an incessmt fire of grape shot and mus- 
ketry, as he approached tne first barrier he received a musket ball 
in the leg, which shattered the bone ; and he was carried off to the 
camp. Though the attack was unsuccessful, the blockade of Que- 
bec was continued till M:ty 1776, when the army, which was in no 
condition to risk an assault, was removed to a more defensible 
position. Arnold was compelled to relinquish one post after 
another, till the 18th of June, when he quitted Canada. After ihis 
period he exhibited great bravery in the command of the Americaa 
fleet on lake Charaplain. 



S2 ARN. 

In August 1777 he relieved fort Schuyler under the command 
of colonel Guiiscvoort, which was invested by colonel St. Leger 
with an aruiy oi irom fifteen to eignteen hundred men. In the 
battle neurStiilw-itcr, Sepieniuer the ninetccntii, lie conducted him- 
self with his usual intrepidity, being engaged incessantly for four 
hours. In the ..ction of October the seventh, utter the British had 
been driven into the lines, Arnold pressed forward antl under a 
tremendous fire assaulted the works throughout their whole extent 
from right to left. The inti-enchmcnts were at length iorced, and 
■with a few men he actually entered the works ; but his horse be- 
ing killed, and he himself badly wounded in the leg, he found it ne- 
cessary to withdraw, and as it was now almost darK. to desist from 
the attack. 

Being rendered unfit for active service in consequence of his 
wound, after the recovery of Philadelphia he was appointed to the 
command of the American garrison. When he entered the city^ 
he made the house of governor Penn, the best house in the city, 
his head quarters. This he furnished in a very costly manner, and 
lived far beyond his income. He had wasted the plunder, which 
he had seized at Montreal in his retreat from Canada ; and at Phi- 
ladelphia he was determined to make new acquisitions. He laid 
his hands on every thing in the city, which could be considered as 
the properly of those, who were unfriendly to the cause of his coun- 
try. He was charged wiiii oppression, extortion, and enormous 
charges upon the public in his accounts, and with applying the pub- 
lic money and property to his own private use. Sucli was his con- 
duct, that he drew upon himself the odium of the inhabitants not 
only of the city, but of the province in general. He was engaged 
in trading speculations and had shares in several privateers, but was 
unsuccessful. 

From the judgment of the commissioners, who had been ap- 
pointed to inspect his accounts, and who had rejected above half 
the amount of liis demands, he appealed to congress ; and they ap- 
pointed a committee of their own body to examine and settle the 
business. The committee confirmed the report of the commis- 
sioners, and thought they had allowed him more, thiui he had any 
right to expect or demand. By these disappointments he became 
irritated and he gave full scope to his resentment. His invectives 
against congress were not less vinh^it, tlian those, which he hud be- 
fore thrown out against the commissioners. He was however soou 
obliged to abide the judgment of a court martial upon the charges, 
exhibited against him by the executive of Pennsylvania, and he was 
subjected to the mortification of receiving a reprimand from Wash- 
ington. His trial commenced in June 1773, but such were the de- 
lays occasioned by the movements of the array, that it w.snot con- 
cluded until the 26th of January 1779. The sentence of a repri- 
mand was approved by congress, and was soou afterwards carried 
into execution. 



ARN. 33 

Such was the humiliation, to which genei'al Arnold was reduc- 
ed in consequence of yielding to the temptations of pride and van- 
ity, and indulging himself in the pleasures of a sumptuous table 
and expensive equipage. 

From this time probably his pi'oud spirit revolted from the cause 
<if America. He turned his eyes to West Point as an acquisition, 
which would give value to treason, while its loss would inflict a 
mortal wound on his former friends. He addressed himself to the 
delegation of New York, in which state his reputation was pecul- 
iarly high, and a member of congress from this state recommend- 
ed him to Washington for the service, which he desired. But this 
request could not be immediately complied with. The same ap- 
plication to the commander in chief was made not long afterwards 
through general Schuyler. Washington observed, that as thei'e 
was a prospect of an active campaign he should be gratified with 
the aid of general Arnold in the field, but intimated at the same 
time, that he should receive the appointment requested, if it should 
be more pleasing to him. 

Arnold without discovei'ing much solicitude repaired to camp in 
the beginning of August, and renewed in person the solicitations, 
which had been before indirectly made. Ke was now offered the 
command of the left wing of the ai-my, which was advancing a- 
gainst New York, but he declined it under the pretext, that in con- 
sequence of his wounds, he was unable to perform the active duties 
of the field. Without a suspicion of his patriotism he was invest- 
ed with the command of West Point. Previously to his soliciting 
this station, he had in a letter to colonel Robinson signified his 
change of principles and his wish to restore himself to the favor 
of his prince by some signal proof of his repentance. This let- 
ter opened to him a correspondence with sir Henry Clinton, the 
object of which was to concert the means of putting the impor- 
tant post, which he commanded, into the possession of the British 
general. 

His plan, it is believed, was to have dra\vn the greater part of 
his army without the works under the pretext of fighting the 
enemy in the defiles, and to have left unguarded a designated pass, 
through which the assailants might securely approach and surprise 
the fortress. His troops he intended to place, so that they would 
be compelled to surrender, or be cut in pieces. But just as his 
scheme was ripe for execution the wise Disposer of events, who 
so often and so remarkably interposed in favor of the American 
cause, blasted his designs. 

Major Andre, after his detection, was permitted to send a mes- 
sage to Arnold to give him notice of his danger ; and the traitor 
found opportunity to escape on board the Vulture on the 25th of 
September, 1780, a few hours before the return of Washington, 
who had been absent on a journey to Hartford, Connecticut. It is 



34 ARN. 

supposed however, that he wouUl not have escaped, had not an 
express to the cominandcr in chief, with an account of the capture 
of Anch-c, missed him by taking a difterent road from the one, 
which lie travelled. 

Arnold on the very day of )us escape wrote a letter to Washing- 
ton, declaring that the love of his country had governed him in 
his late conduct, and requesting him to protect Mrs. Arnold. She 
was conveyetl to her husljand at New York, and his clothes and 
l>aggagc, for which he had written, Avcre transmitted to him. 
During the exertions, which were made to rescue Andre from the 
destruction, which threatcncil him, Aniold had the hardihood to 
interpose. He appealed to the humanity of the commander in 
chief, and then sought to intimidate him by stating the situation of 
many of the principal characters of South Carolina, who had for- 
feited their lives, but had hitherto been spared through the clem- 
ency of the British general. This clemency, he said, could no 
longer in justice be extended to them, should major Andre suffer. 

Arnold was made a brigadier general in the British service ; 
which rank he preserved ijiroughout the war. Yet he must have 
been held in contempt and detestation by the generous and honor- 
able. It was impossible for men of this description, even when 
acting with him, to forget that he was a traitor, first the slave of 
his rage, then purchased with gold, and finally secured by the 
blood of one of the most accomplished officers in the British 
army. One would suppose, that his mind could not have been 
much at ease ; but he had jiroceeded so far in vice, that perhaps 
his reflections gave him but little trouble. " I am mistaken," says 
Washington in a private letter, " if at this time Arnold is under- 
going the torments of a lucntal hell. He wants feeling. From 
some traits of his character, Avhich have lately come to my 
knowledge, he seems to have been so hacknied in crime, so lost 
to all sense of honor and shame, that while his faculties still enable 
him to continue his sordid pursuits, there will be no time for 
remorse." 

Arnold found it necessary to make some exertions to secure the 
attachment of his new friends. With the hope of alluring many 
of the discontented to his standard, he published an address to 
the inhabitants of America, in which he endeavoured to justify his 
conduct. He had encountered the dangers of the field, he said, 
from apprehension, that the rights of his country were in danger. 
He had acquiesced in the declaration of independence, though he 
thought it precipitate. But the rejection of the overtures, made 
by Great Britain in 1778, and the French alliance had opened his 
eyes to the ambitious views of those, who would sacrifice the 
happiness of their country to their own agp;randizement, and had 
made him a ronlirnicd loyalist. He artfully mingled assertions, 
that the principal memberi of congress held the people iu sove- 
reign contempt. 



ARN. SS 

This was followed in about a fortnight by a proclamation, ad- 
dressed " to the oflicers and soldiers of the continental army, who 
have the real interest of their country at heart, and who are deter- 
mined to be no longer the tools and dupes of congress or of 
France." To induce the American officers and soldiers to desert 
the cause, which they had embraced, he represented that the corps 
of cavalry and infantry, which he was authorized to raise, would 
be upon the same footing with the other troops in the British 
service ; that he should with pleasure advance those, whose valor 
he had \vitnessed ; and that the private men, who joined him, 
should receive a bounty of three guineas each, besides payment at 
the full value for horses, arms, and accoutrements. His object 
was the peace, liberty, and safety of America. " You are promised 
liberty," he exclaims, " but is there an individual in the enjoyment 
of it saving your oppressors .'' Who among you dare speak or 
write what he tliinks against the tyranny, which has robbed you of 
your property, imprisons your persons, drags you to the field of 
battle, and is daily deluging your country with your blood ?"— - 
" What," he exclaims again, " is America now but a land of wid- 
ows, orphans, and beggars ? As to you, who have been soldiers in 
the continental army, can you at this day want evidence, that the 
funds of your country are exhausted, or that the managers have 
applied them to their private uses ? In either case you surely can 
no longer continue in their service with honor or advantage. Yet 
you have hitherto been their supporters in that cruelty, which 
with equal indifference to yours as well as to the labor and blood 
of others, is devouiing a coimtry, that froiu the monaent you quit 
their colors will be redeemed from their tyranny." 

These proclamations did not produce the effect designed, and in 
all the hardships, sufferings, and irritations of the war Arnold 
remains the solitary instance of an American officer, who aban- 
doned the side first embraced in the contest, and turned his SAVord 
upon his former companions in arms. 

He was soon dispatched by sir Henry Clinton to make a diver- 
sion in Virginia. With about seventeen hundred men he arrived 
in the Chesapeak in January 178 1, and being supported by such a 
naval force, as was suited to the nature of the service, he committed 
extensive ravages on the rivers and along the unprotected coasts. 
It is said, that while on this expedition Arnold inquired of an 
American captain, whom he had taken prisoner, what the Ameri- 
cans would do with him, if he should fall into their hands. The 
officer replied, that tliey would cut off his lame leg and bury it 
with the honors of war, and hang the remainder of his body in 
gibbets. 

After his recal from Virginiahe conducted an expedition agains't 
his native state of Connecticut. He took fort Trumbidi Sep'puv 
ber the sixth with inconsiderable loss. On the other side of the 



36 ASH. 

harbor lieutenant colonel Eyre, who commanded another detach'- 
tnent, made an asj^iult on fort Griswold, and with the greatest 
difficulty entered the works. An officer of the conquering troops 
asked, who commanded. " I did," answered colonel Ledyard, 
" but you do now," and presented him his sword, wliich was in- 
stantly plunjjccd into his own bosom. A merciless slaughter com- 
menced upon the brave garnson, who had ceased to resist, until 
the greater part were either killed or wounded. After burning the 
to\vn and the stores, which were in it, and thus thickening the lau- 
rels, with which his brow was adorned, Arnold returned to New 
York in eight days. 

From the conclusion of the war till his death general Arnold re- 
sided chiefly in England. He died in Gloucester place, London, 
June 14, 1801. His character presents little to be commended. 
His daring courage may indeed excite admiration ; but it was a 
courage without reflection and without principle. He fought brave- 
ly for his country and he bled in her cause ; but his country owed 
him no returns of gratitude, for his svibsequcnt conduct proved, 
that he had no honest regard to her interests, but was governed by- 
selfish considerations. His progress from self indulgence to trea- 
son was easy and rapid. He was vain and luxuriovis, and to gratify 
his gicftly desires he must ^"esort to meanness, dishonesty, and ex- 
tortion. These vices brought with them disgrace ; and the con- 
tempt, into which he fell, awakened a spirit of revenge, and left 
him to the unrestrained influence of his cupidity and passion. 
Thus from the high fame, to which his bravery had elevated him, 
he descended into infamy. Thus too he furnished new evidence 
of the infatuation of the human mind in attaching such value to the 
reputation of a soldier, which may be obtained while the heart is 
unsound and every moral sentiment is entirely depraved. — 4nnuaL 
register for 1781, 37 — .49,73 ; Marshall's life of Washington, \\. 
371 — 290 ; Warren's history of the American ivar ; Holmes' annals, 
ii. 340, 460 ; 5/f(/wa/2, i. 138, 336 ; ii. 247 ; Gorrfo77, ii. 3, 12 8, 
165, 463 ; iii. 480 ; iv, 1 15, 178 ; Jmer. jnuseum, ix. 144. 

ASHLEY (.Ionathan), minister of Decrfield, Massachusetts, 
was graduated at Yale college in 1730, and was ordained in 1738. 
He died in 1780 in the 68th year of his age. He possessed a 
strong and discci-ning mind and lively imagination, and was a pun- 
gent and energetic preacher. He proclaimed the doctrines of 
grace with a pathos, which was the cflcct, not merely of his assent to 
their divine authority, Imt of a deep sense and lively view of their 
irnportance and excellency. — He published a sermon on visible 
saints, vindicating Mr. Stoddard's sentiments respecting church 
membership ; a sermon at the ordination of reverend John Norton, 
Deerficld, 1741 ; the greatdutyof charity, a sermon, Boston, 1742 ; 
a letter to Williiim Cooper, 1 74,' Redeem, captives C->th ed. 215., 



BAG. 37 

BACKUS (Charles, d. d.)» ^^ eminent minister, was born in 
Norwich, Connecticut, in 1749. He lost liis parents in his child- 
hood, but, as he early discovered a love of science, his friends as- 
sisted him to a liberal education. He was graduated at Yale col- 
lege in 1769. His theological education was under the reverend 
Dr. Hart of Preston. In 1774 he was ordained to the pastoral 
charge of the church in Somers, and he remained in this town till 
his death, Dec. 30, 1803, after a faithful ministry of more than 29 
years. 

In the last year of his I'esidence at college the mind of Dr. Back- 
us was impressed by divine truth, and although his conduct had not 
been immoral he was deeply convinced of his sinfulness in the 
sight of God. He was for a time opposed to the doctrines of the 
gospel, particularly to the doctrine of the atonement, and of the 
dependence of man upon the special influences of the Holy Spirit 
to renew his heart. But at length his pride was humbled, and he 
was brought to an acquaintance with the way of salvation by a cruci- 
fied Redeemer. From this time he indulged the hope, that he was 
reconciled unto God. He was a humble and exemplary christian. 
Under the afflictions of life he quietly submitted to the will of his 
Father in heaven. He was a plain, evangelical, and impressive 
preacher. He knew the worth of immortal souls, and he taught 
with the greatest clearness the way of salvation thi'ough faith in the 
Redeemer, and enforced upon his hearers that holiness, without 
which no man can see the Lord. During his ministry, which was 
blessed to the everlasting good of many, there were four seasons 
of peculiar attention to religion among his people. Dr. Backus 
was eminent as a theologian. His retired situation, and his emi- 
nence as an instructor drew around him many, who were designed 
for the christian ministry. Near fifty young men were members 
of his theological school, most of whom are now pastors in the 
churches. In his last sickness he had much of the divine presence. 
The last words, which he was heard to whisper, were " glory to 
God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." 

In his short journal, which he left behind him, he says, " as I 
have looked round on my felloAV christians, I have ever accounted 
myself as among the chief of sinners, and have found it much easier 
to maintain a charitable hope for them than for myself.^I hope 
that amidst all my wickedness I have not forgotten the weight of 
my charge. Since I have been in the ministry, I have had at sea- 
sons clearer views of my ovrn corruptions and of my absolute de- 
pendence on sovereign grace, than at any former period of my life. 
I hope, that now I knoAV in whom I have believed." 

He published a century sermon, 1801, and a volume of sermons 
on regeneration. — Connecticut evani^. magazine, iv. 

BACKUS (Isaac), a distinguished baptist minister of Massa- 
chusetts, was born at Norwich in Connecticut, January the twenti- 



38 BAG. 

cth, 1724. In 1741, a year memorable for the revival of religion, 
which took place through this country, his altenlion was first 
arrested by the concerns of another world, and he was biought, as 
he believed, to the knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus. In 
1746 he commenced preaching the gospel, and April 13, 1748 he 
was ordained lirst minister of a congregational church in Titicut 
precinct, in the town of Middleborough, Massachusetts. This 
society was formed in February 1743 in consequence of disputes 
with regard to the settlement of a minister. The meml)ers of it 
wished for a minister of different sentiments from the man, who 
was settled, and as they could not obtain a dismission from the 
church by an ecclesiastical council, at the end of five years they 
withdrew without this sanction, and formed a church by themselves 
in February 1748. INIr. Backus was soon ord:uned their minister. 
The society, however, was not permitted now to rest in peace, for 
they were taxed with the other inhabitants of the town for the 
purpose of building a new meeting house for the first church. 

In 1 749 a number of the members of INIr. IJackus' church altered 
their sentiments with regard to baptism, and obtained an exemp- 
tion from the congregational tax ; and he at length united with 
them in opinion. He was bajitized by immersion in August 1751. 
For some years afterwards he held comnmnion with those, who 
were baptized in infancy, but perceiving that this implied an 
acknowledgment, that baptism by sprinkling was valid, which he 
could not admit, he withdrew from this intercourse with christians 
of other denominations. A baptist church was formed January 
16, 1756, and he was installed its pastor June 23 of the same year 
by ministers from Boston and Relioboth. In this relation he 
continued through the remainder of his life. He died November 
20, 1806, in the 60th year of his ministry and the 83d year of 
his age. He had been enabled to preach until the spring before 
his death, when he experienced a paralytic stroke, which deprived 
him of speech, and of the use of his limbs. 

Mr. Backus was a plain, evangelical preacher. His sermons 
were stored with scripture truths. To his exertions the baptist 
churches in America owe not a little of their present flourishing 
condition. He was ever a zealous friend to the equal rights of 
christians. When the congress met at Philadelphia in 1774, he 
was sent as an agent from the baptist churches of the Warren 
association to support their claims to the same equal liberties, 
which ought to be given to every denomination. On the 14th of 
October he had a conference with the Massachusetts delegation 
and others, at which he contended only for the same privileges, 
which were given to the churches in Boston ; and he received 
the promise, that the rights of the baptists should be regarded. 
On his return, as a report had preceded him, that he had been 
attemptii);^ to break up the union of the colonies, he addressed 



BAC. 39 

himself to the convention of Massachusetts Dec. 9, and a vote 
was passed, deelaring his conduct to have been cori'ect. When 
the convention of Massachusetts in 1779 took into consideration 
the constitution ot that state, the subject of the extent of the civil 
power in regard to religion naturally presented itself, and in the 
course of debate the perfect correctness of the baptist memorial, 
which was read at Philadelphia, was called in question. In 
consequence of which Mr. Backus published in the Chronicle of 
Dec. 2, 1779 a narrative of his proceedings as baptist agent, and 
brought arguments against an article in the bill of rights of the 
constitution of Massachusetts. He believed, that the civil author- 
ity had no right to require men to support a teacher of piety, 
morality, and religion, or to attend public worship ; that the church 
ought to have no connexion with the state ; that the kingdom of 
the Lord Jesus was not of this Avorld, and was not dependent on 
the kingdoms of this world ; and that the subject of religion 
should be left entirely to the consciences of men. 

The publications of Mr. Backus are more numerous, than those 
of any other baptist writer in America. He published a discourse 
on the nature and necessity of an internal call to preach the ever- 
lasting gospel, 1754; true faith will produce good works, a discourse 
on faith, with some remarks on Mr. Sandeman's writings, 1767 ; 
a discourse, shewing that believers only are the matter of Christ's 
visible church, that Christ instituted none but particular churches, 
to be composed of persons capable of giving an account of the 
work of regeneration, that the power of approving and ordaining 
ministers belongs to the church, the officers in ordination acting 
not by inherent power but by the appointment of the church, and 
that civil and ecclesiastical power should be kept distinct, 1773 ; 
a number of pieces in the newspapers on the principles of toleration, 
&c. and a number of sermons and tracts, whose titles have not 
been ascertained. Some of the principal ministers of the baptist 
persuasion requested him in 1771 to write a history of their 
churches. He yielded to their importunity, and from that period 
devoted much time to the examination of the records of the united 
colonies, which are deposited at Plymouth, and of the colonies of 
Plymouth, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. After 
having pursued his researches in various directions, he published 
in 1777 the first volume of his church history of New England, 
containing an account of the religious affairs of the country and of 
the oppressions therein, with a pailicular history of the baptist 
churches in the five states of New England. The second volume, 
of this work was published in 1784, and the third in 1796. An 
abridgment of the whole, brought down to 1804, was published in 
that year, when the author was 80 years of a^e. 

Little can be said in commendation of this church history of 
NcAv England. It contains indeed a great many facts, for which 



40 BAC. 

the public is indebted to the patient industry of the writer, and it 
must be a very valuable work to tlie baptists, as it pre'sents a minute 
account of almost every church of that denominaiion in New Eng- 
land. But these facts are combined without much attention to the 
connexion, which out^ht to subsist between them, and the author 
shows himself too much under the inlluencc of the zeal of party. 
Yet he seems to have been a pious, good man. He adhered to the 
great religious principles of the fathers of New England, and con- 
tended earnestly for what are called the doctrines of the reformation. 
He embraced from his heart the calvinistic construction of the 
scriptures. A few months before his death he wrote to a friend, 
" when God first called me to preach the gospel, he said, my grace 
is sufficient for thee ; and I have ever found it so." — Mussa. baptist 
missionary magazine., i. 287, 288 ; Backus' church Mstory, lii, 139— 
141 ; Backus' abridgment., 209, 214. 

BACON (N.\thaniel), an insurgent in Virginia, was educated 
at the Inns of court in England, and after his arrival in this country 
was chosen a member of the council. He was a young man of 
fine accomplishments, of an interesting countenance, and of 
impressive eloquence. The trade with the Indians in 1676 being 
somewhat interrupted, the people complained, and were disposed 
to throw the blame upon the government. These murmurings 
were echoed by Bacon, and while he complimented the people, for 
their discernmeni of the causes of their troubles, he suggested that 
better measures might be adopted, and that he could open again the 
avenues to trade . He proposed to lead ihem against the Indians. The 
ears of the multitude were soothed by his promises and delighted 
with his oratory, and they unanimously elected him their general. 
He sent for a commission to governor Berkeley, but was ordered to 
dismiss his men with the threat of otherwise being declared a rebel. 
Intoxicated with the command given him, Bacon soon afterwards 
marched to James Town at the head of six hundred volunteers, an^ 
presented himself at the door of the house, in which the assembly 
was sitting, and offered his claims for the commission, which he de- 
sired. The governor refused to consent to any of his demands, 
and bared his breast to the insurgents, telling them to proceed to 
violence, if their courage wovild permit them. But the assembly, 
the members of which were less firm, prepared a commission, con- 
stituting Bacon general of the forces, and with much difficulty per- 
suaded the governor to sign it. As soon, however, as the new gen- 
eral had removed to such a distance, as to enable the assembly to 
deliberate in safety, the governor was directed to issue a proclama- 
tion against Bacon, declaring him a rebel, and requiring his follow- 
ers to surrender him, and disperse themselves. Instead of obeying 
this order tiicy marched back to James Town, and obliged the gov- 
ernor to flee. Bacon soon called a convention, and it was agreed to 
require of the people a new oath of obedience to the general, and un- 



BAI. 41 

der pretence of the governor's abdication he issued writs for a new 
assembly. A civil war now commenced, and several skirmishes 
took place, in which a number of persons were killed. One of 
Bacon's captains burned James ToAvn, and the country was threat- 
ened with the greatest evils ; when, in the midst of these increasing 
calamities, Bacon died suddenly in January 1677. Peace and order 
were soon afterwards restoi'ed. This rebellionf cost the colony one 
hundred thousand pounds, and it gave the colonists an instructive 
lesson on the advantages of obedience to law. — Keith's hist, of Vir- 
ginia, 156— 162 ; Holmes' annals, i. 436; Chalmers, i. 332— 335 ; 
Beverly, 105 ; Wynne, ii. 222, 223 ; Marshall, i. 198 — 201. 

BAILY (John), an excellent minister in Boston, was born Feb. 
24, 1644 in Lancashire, England. From his earliest years his 
mind seems to have been impressed by the truths of religion. 
While he was yet very young, his mother one day persuaded him 
to lead the devotions of the family. When his father, who was a 
very dissolute man, heai'd of it, his heart was touched with a sense 
of his sin in the neglect of this duty, and he became afterwards an 
eminent christian. 

After having been carefully instructed in classical learning, he 
commenced preaching the gospel about the age of 22. He soon 
went to Ireland, where by frequent labors he much injured his 
health, which was never perfectly restored. He spent about 14 
years of his life at Limerick, and was exceedingly blessed in his 
exertions to turn men from darkness to light. He was governed 
by the single desire of promoting the glory of his master in ad- 
vancing the interests of holiness. Yet, while in this place as well 
as previously, he was persecuted by men, who were contending for 
form and ceremony in violation of the precepts and the spirit of the 
gospel. 

While he was a young man he often travelled far by night to 
enjoy the ordinances of the gospel, privately administered in dis" 
senting congregations, and for this presumptuous offence he was 
sometimes thrown into Lancashire jail. 

As soon as he began to preach, his fidelity was tried, and he suf- 
fered imprisonment because in hisjconscience he could not conform 
to the established church. 

While at Limerick a deanery was offered him, if he would con- 
form, with the promise of a bishopric upon the first vacancy. But 
disdaining worldly things, when they came in competition with 
duty to his Savior and the purity of divine worship, he rejected the 
offer in true disinterestedness and elevation of spirit. But neither 
this proof, that he was intent on higher objects than this world pre- 
sents, nor the blamelessness of his life, nor the strong hold, which 
he had in the affections of his acquaintance, could preserve him 
from again suffering the hardships of inaprisonment, while the pa- 
6 



4^ BAI. 

pists in the neighborhood enjoyed liberty and countenance. When he 
Avas before the judges, he s/ul to them, "if 1 had been drinking, and 
gaining, und carovising at a tiivern with niy company, my lords, I 
presume that would not luive procured uiy behig thus treated as an 
ofTendcr. Must praying to God, and preaching of Christ with a 
comirany of christians, Avho are. peaceable and inoffensive and a& 
serviceable to his majesty and the government as any of his sub- 
jects ; must this be a greater ciimc :" The recorder answered, 
" we will have you to know it is a greater crime." His Hock of- 
ten Htstcd and prayed for liis release ; but he was discharged on 
this condition only, that he should depart from the country Avithin 
a limited time. 

He came to New England about the year 1683, and continued 
near 14 years his benevolent attempts to teach his fellow men the 
way to heaven. He died at Bosvon Dec. 16, 1697. 

He was a- man eminent for piety, of great sensibility of con- 
science, and very exemplary in his life. It was his constant desire 
to be patient and resigned under the calamities, which were ap- 
l)ointetl him, and to fix his heart more upon things above. On a 
certain occasion he thus expressed himself; " O that I might not 
be of the mimbLr of them, that live without love, speak without 
feeling, and act without life 1 O that Ood wovild make me his hum- 
l)le, and upright, and faithful servant 1" The holy scriptures were 
very dear to him, as they are to every good man ; and as evidence 
•of his regard to the word of God, we have the following passage in 
his diary ; " Jan. 11. I finished the reading of the bible in my 
lamily as formerly. O, 'tis a dear book ; 'tis always new. At the 
begiiming of every chapter, 'tis good to say. Lord, open my eycs» 
that I may see wonders out of thy law ! And when we shut it up, 
to say, I have seen an end of all perfection, but thy law is exceed- 
ing broad. O how terrible are the threatenings, how precious arc 
the promises, how serious are the precepts, how deep are the pro- 
phecies of this book !" 
' His ministry was very acceptable in different places, and he was 
a warm and animated preacher. But with all his faithfulness and 
goodness, he saw many disconsolate hours. He was distressed 
with doubts respecting himself, but Ins apprehensions only attach- 
ed him the more closely to his Redeemer. In his diary not long 
before his death, he wrote thus ; " 1 see more into the great mys- 
tery of our justification by faith merely of i^jrace. There is no 
respect in it to this or that ; but Jesus Christ, having wrought out a 
redemption for us, and by his active and passive obedience procured 
a sufficient righteousness, and made a tender of it in his gospel, it 
i)ecomcs mine by my acceptance of it, and relying on it alone for 
salvation. And shall I not accept of it ? God forbid. I see there 
are two thinv^s, wherein I cannot easily exceed, namely, in ascrib- 
ing to the grace of God its freeness and richness in man's salva- 



BAL. 43 

tioiij and in ascribing to the righteousness of Christ man's justifica- 
tion." 

In liis last sickness he suffered under a complication of disorders ; 
but he did not complain. His mind wus sooti\cd iii dwelling upon 
the sufferings of his Savior. At times he was agitated with feurs, tho* 
they had not respect, as he said, so much to the end, as to what 
he might meet in the way. His last words Avere, speaking of Christ, 
*' O, what shall I say ? lie is altogether lovely. His glorious an- 
gels are come for me 1" He then closed his eyes, and his spirit 
passed into eternity. He published man's chief end to glorify God, 
a sermon preached at Watertown, 1689.— 'Midditton's biografihia 
e-uangelicayiw. 101 — 105 ; JVo7iconformisi's memorial,!. 331 — 335; 
Mat her^ s funeral sermon ; Magnalia, iii. 224 — 238. 

BALDWIN (Ebenezer), minister of Dcinnury, Connecticut, 
was graduated at Yale college in 1763, and was tutor in that sem- 
inary from 1766 to 1770. He was ordained as successor of the 
reverend Mr. Warner and Mr. White, September 19, 1770, and 
died suddenly October 1, 1776, aged 31 years. He was a man of 
great talents and learning, a constant and unwearied student, grave 
in manners, and an able suppoi'ter of the sound doctrines of the gos- 
pel. He left a legacy of about 300 pounds to his society, which is 
appropriated to the support of religion. Robbins' century sermon. 

BALDWIN (Abraham), president of the university of Georgia 
and a distinguished statesman, was graduated at Yale college in 
1772, and Avas afterwards tutor in that seminary from 1775 to 1779. 
When the general system of education through the state of Geor- 
gia was adopted by the legislature in 1785, he was placed at the 
head of it. He Avas a member of the gi'and convention, Avhich held 
its session from May 25, to September 17, 1787, and fram.ed the 
constitution of the United States. To that instrument his name 
is affixed as one of the deputies from Georgia. He Avas aiterAvardg 
a senator from this state in the councils of the nation. Pie died 
at Washington in the beginning of March 1807. 

BANISTER (John), a botanist of Virginia, Avas an English- 
man, who settled in that province toward the latter end of the sev- 
enteenth century. He devoted himself to the investigation of the- 
plants of that part of America. He collected and described plants, 
and drew the figures of the rare species. He become a victim to 
his favorite pursuit. In one of his exciu'sions he fell from the rocke 
and perished. His botanical friends did honor to his memory by 
calling a plant of the decandrous cixssBanisteria. — Miller^ s retros.- 
jiect., i. 141. 

BARCLAY (Henry, d. d.), an episcopal clergyman in New 
York, was a native of Albany, and received a liberal educaticn at 
Yale college, where he Avas graduated in 1734. Soon after leaving 
•college he Aventto England, Avhere he- received orders in the church, 
and Avas appointed missionary to the INIoIiawk Indians. .Having 



44 BAK. 

served in this capacity for some years with but little success 
he was called to the city of New York, uiul appointed rector 
of Trinity church. In this respectable station he continued till his 
deuth, which took place in \765.^Mller's retros/iect, li. 356. 

BARD (John), a learned physician, was bom in Burlington, New 
Jersey, Feb. 1, 1716. His father, Peter Bard Esq, who was a na- 
tive of France, came to Maryland in 1703 as a merchant, whence he 
soon after removed to New Jersey, in which colony he was for ma- 
ny years a member of the council and a judge of the supreme 
court. 

Mr. Bard received his early education under the care of Mr. An- 
nan of Philadelphia, one of the most eminent teachers on the con- 
tinent. Having evinced a predilection for the study of physic, he 
was at the age of seventeen or eighteen bound an apprentice to the 
celebrated Dr. Kearsely, with whom he continued till 1737. He 
now ehgaged in business, and soon acquired a large share of prac- 
tice, and became much respected. In 1743 he was induced by ur- 
gent applications from New York to remove to that city to supply 
the loss of several eminent physicians. Here he continued till with- 
in a few months of his death. In tiic year 1795, when the yellow 
fever had put to flight a number oi^^ physicians, who were in the 
meridian of life, the veteran Dr. Bard, though verging towards his 
eightieth year, remained at his post. He did not relinquish his at- 
tendance upon his patients till May 1798, when he removed to his 
estate at Hyde Park, near Poughkcepsie. Here he continued in the 
enjoyment of perfect health, till he felt a paralytic stroke, which in 
a few days occasioned his death. He died March 30, 1799, in the 
eighty fourth year of his age. 

Dr. Bard was eminent in his profession, and his practice was ve- 
ry extensive. Soon after the close of the war with Great Britain 
upon the reestablishment of the medical society of the state of New 
York, he was elected its president, and he was placed in the chair for 
six or seven successive years. He possessed a singular ingenuity 
and quickness in discriminating diseases; yet he did not presump- 
tuously confide in his penetration, but was remarkably particular in 
his inquiries into the circumstimces of the sick. Ever desirous of 
removing the disorders, to which the human frame is subject, his 
anxiety and attention were not diminished, when called to visit the 
indigent, from whom he could not expect compensation. His 
conduct through his whole life was marked by the strictest honor 
and integrity. In conversation he was polite, affable, cheerful, and 
entertaining. To his pupils he was not only an instructor, but a fa- 
ther. 

In the early part of his life he devoted much attention to polite 
learning, in which he made grc:\t proficiency. He possessed a 
correct and elegant taste, and wrote with uncommon accuracy and 
precision j yet either the almost complete occupation of Iiis time 



BAR. 45 

by active duties, or his modesty and diffidence of his talents pre- 
vented him from ever publishing any work. — Hardie's biogra/ihical 
dictionary. 

BARNARD (John), minister of Marblehead, Massachusetts, 
~.vas born in Boston November 6, 168 1. His parents were remark- 
able for their piety, and they took particular care of his education. 
He was graduated at Harvard college in 1700. In the former part 
of his coUegial course the sudden death of two of his acquaintance 
impressed his mind and led him to think of his own departure from 
this world ; but the impression was soon effaced. However, before 
he left that institution he was brought to repentance, and he resolved 
to yield him.self to the commands of God. In 1702 he united him- 
self to the north church in Boston under the yjastoral care of the 
reverend Drs. Increase and Cotton Mather. The same year he be- 
gan to preach. In 1705 he was invited to settle at Yarmouth, but 
he declined accepting the invitation. He was employed for some 
time as an assistant to Dr. Colman. 

Being fond of active life, he was appointed by governor Dudley 
one of the chaplains, who accompanied the army to Port Royal in 
1707 to reduce that fortress. In an attempt to take a plan of the 
fort a cannon ball was fired at him, that covered him with dirt with- 
out doing him any injury. It only diverted him from his purpose. 
In 1709 at the solicitation of captain John Wentworth, afterwards 
liutenant governor of New Hampshire, he sailed with him to Bar- 
badoes and London. While he was in this city the affair of Dr. 
Sachevercl took place, of which he would often speak. He became 
acquainted with some of the famous dissenting ministers, and re- 
ceived some advantageous offers of settlement, if he Vv'ould remain 
in England. He might have accompanied lord Wharton to Ireland 
as his chaplain, but he refused to conform to the articles of the na- 
tional church. Soon after this he returned to seek a settlement in 
his own country. 

The new north church in Boston, was built for him and he preached 
the dedication sermon May 23, 1714, expecting soon to be ordained 
according to mutual agreement; but a more popular candidate, Mr. 
Webb, being invited at the request of Dr. Cotton Mather, the peo- 
ple chose him for their pastor. Of this transaction he could not 
speak with calmness to the day of his death. He was ordained 
minister of Marblehead July 18, 1716, as colleague with the rever- 
end Mr. Cheever. In 1762 he received the reverend Mr. Whit- 
well as his assistant. The last sermon which he preached, was de- 
livered January 8, 1769. He died January 24, 1770, in the eighty 
ninth year of his age. 

Mr. Barnard was eminent for his learning and piety, and was fa- 
mous among the divines of America. During the latter part of 
his life, when he retained a vigor of mind and zeal uncommon at so 
advanced an age, he v/as reo-arded as the father of the rlmrches. 



40 BAR. 

His form was vcmarkably erect, and lie never bent under the infir- 
jiulies of eighty cii^ht years. His counlenance was grand, his 
mien majestic, and there was a dit^nity iii his whole deportment. 
His presence restramed the imprudence and lolly ot yomh, and 
when the aged saw him, they arose and stood up. He added a know- 
•ledge oi" the Hebrew to his other theoloj^ical attainments ; he was 
well acquainted with the mathematics ; and he excelled in a skill 
for naval architecture. Several draughts of his, tne amusement of 
leisure hours, were commendetl by master ship buildei*s. When 
he first went to IVIarblehead, and for some years afterward, there 
Avas not one trading vessel belonging to the town. It was through 
his exertions, that a commercial improvement soon took place. 
Having taken great pains to learn " the mystery of the fish trade," 
he directed the people to the best use, which they could make of 
the advantages of tlieir situation. A young man was first persuad- 
ed to send a small cargo to Barbadoes, and his success was so en- 
couraging, that the people were soon able in their own vessels to 
transport their fish to the West Indies and Europe. In 1767 there- 
were tlurty or forty vessels, belonging to the town, employed in the 
foreign trade. When Mr. Barnard first went to Marblehead, 
there was not in the place so much as one proper carpenter, nor 
mason, nor tailor, nor butcher. 

By prudence in the management of his affairs he acquired con- 
siderable property, but he gave tythes of all he possessed. His 
charity was;of a kind, which is worthy of imitation. He was not dis- 
posed to give much encouragement to comnion beggars, but he 
sought out those objects of benevolent attention, who modest- 
ly hid their wants. The poor were often fed by him, and the 
widow's heart was gladdened, while they knew not whereto return 
thanks, except to the merciful Father of the wretched. In one 
kind of charity he was somewhat peculiar. He generally support- 
ed at school two boys, whose parents were unable to meet this ex- 
'pense. By his last will he gave two hundred pounds to Harvard 
-college. He left no children. In his sickness, which terminated in 
his death, he said Avitli tears flowing from his eyes, "my very soul 
bleeds, when I remember my sins ; but I trust I have sincerely re- 
pented, and that Gqd will accept me fur Christ's sake. His right- 
•cousness is my only dcpendance." 

The publications of Mr. Barnard are numerous and valuable. 
They show his theological knowledge, and his talents as a writer. 
His style is plain, warm, and energetic. The doctrines, which 
i>e cnlcrces, are tlie same, which were embraced by the fathers 
of New England. He published a sermon upon the death 
-of the reverend Mr. Curwiu of Salem, 1717 ; upon the death of 
his colleague, the reverend Mr. Cheevei-, 1724; two discourses 
iuldressed to ynnig persons, to which is added a sermon I'.pon the 
icarthquakcj 1727 ; a volyme of sermons on the confirmation gf the 



BAR. 47 

christian religion, on compelling men to come in, and on the saints 
victory and rewards, 1727 ; judgment, mercy, and faith the weigh- 
tier matters of the law, a sermon, 1729 ; on the certainty of ther 
birth of Christ, 1731 ; election sermon, 1734; a zeal for good 
works excited and directed, a sermon, 1742 ; the imperfection of 
the creature and the excellency of the divine commandment illus- 
trated in nine sermons, 1747 : januacoelestis, or theniystery of the 
gospel in the salvation of a sinner opened and explained in several 
discourses, 1750 ; a version of the psalms, 1752 ; a proof of Je- 
sus Christ's being the ancient promised Messiah, a Dudleian lec- 
ture sermon, and the first one, that was published, 1756 ; the true 
divinity of Jesus Christ, evidenced in a discourse at a public lecture 
in Boston, 1761 ; a discourse had at the ordination of the reverend 
Mr. Whitwell, a charge, and an address to the people, annexed to 
Mr.T. Barnard's ordination sermon, 1762, His version of the psalms, 
which he published when he was about seventy years of age, he fond- 
ly hoped Avould be sung in all the New England churches ; but it 
was never used beyond the limits of the town, in which it was com- 
posed. The labors of Watts had rendered it unnecessary. A letter 
from Mr. Barnard to president Stiles,written in 1767, giving a sketch 
of the eminent ministers of New England, is published in the Mas- 
sachusetts historical collections.- — WhittveWs funeral sermon ; Col- 
lections of the historical society^ viii. 66 — 69 ; x. 157 167 ; Holmes* 
annals, ii. 296, 297. 

BARNARD (Edward), minister of Haverhill Massachusetts, 
was the son of the reverend John Barnard of Andover. He was 
graduated at Harvard college in 1736, was oi'dained April 27, 1743, 
and died January 29, 1774, aged fifty four years. He was a man 
of distinction and of worth. He published an election sermon, 
1766, and a convention sermon, 1773. 

BARNARD (Thomas), minister in Salem, Massachusetts, was 
graduated at Harvard college in i732. He was ordained pastor of 
a church in NcAvbury January 31, 1739. He was installed as min- 
ister of the first church in Salem September 17, 175 5, and died in 
1776, aged sixty two years. He possessed a high reputation. His 
son, the reverend Dr. Barnard, is now minister in the same town, 
though not of the same society. 

He publised a sermon at the ordination of the reverend Edward 
Barnard, 1743 ; at the ordination of the reverend Mr. Bailey of 
Portsmouth, 1757 ; a sermon before the society for encouraging in- 
dustry, 1757; artillery election sermon, 1758; a sermon at the or- 
dination of reverend William Whitwell, 1762; general election 
sermon, 1763. — Collections of the historical societi/, vi. 273. 

BARRY (John), first commodore in the American navy, died at 
Philadelphia in September 1803. He espoused with ardor the 
oause of liberty earlv in 1775, and with boldness of enterprise 
supported the interests of his country during the war. He- was 



48 BAR. 

a patriot of integrity and unquestionable bravery. His naval 
achievements a few years before his death reflect honor on his 
memory. The camagc of war did not harden his heart into cru- 
elty. He had the art of commanding Avithout supercilious haugh- 
tiness, or wanton severity. Another trait in his character was a 
punctilious observance of the duties of religion. — Gazette of the 
United States, SefU. 20, 1803. 

BARTR AM (John), an eminent botanist, was born near the vil- 
lage of Darby in Chester county, Pennsylvania, in the year 1701. 
His grandfather of the same name accompanied William Penn to 
this countiy in 1682. 

This self taught genius early discovered an ardent desire for the 
acquisition of knowledge, especially of botanical knowledge ; but 
the infant state of the colony placed great obstacles in his way. He 
liowcver surmounted them by intense application and the resources 
of his own mind. By the assistance of respectable characters he 
obtained the rudiments of the learned languages, which he studied 
with extraordinary success. So earnest was he in the pursuit of learn- 
ing, that he could hardly spare time to eat ; and he might often have 
been found with his \ictuals in one hand and his book in the other. 
He acquired so much knowledge of medicine and surgery, as to ad* 
minister great assistance to the indigent and distressed in his neigh- 
borhood. He cultivated the ground as the means of supporting a 
large family ; but while ploughing or sowing his fields, or mowing 
meadows, he was still pushing his inquiries into the operations of 
nature. 

He was the first American, who conceived and carried into effect 
the design of a botanic garden, for the cultivation of American 
plants, as well as of exotics. He purchased a fine situation on the 
banks of the Schuylkill about five miles from Philadelphia, where 
he laid out with his own hands a large garden. He furnished it 
with a variety of the most curious and beautiful vegetables, collected 
in his excursions from Canada to Florida. These excursions were 
made principally in autumn, when his presence at home was least 
demanded by his agricultural avocations. His ardor in these pur- 
suits was such, that at the age of seventy he made a journey into 
East Florida to explore its natural productions. His travels among 
the Indians were frequently attended with danger and difficulty. 
By his means the gardens of Europe were enriched with elegant 
flowering shrubs, with plants and trees, collected in diflercnt parts 
of our country from the shore of lake Ontario to the source of the 
river St. Juan. 

He made such proficifencv in his favorite pursuit, that Linnaeus 
pronounced him "the greatest natural botanist in the world." 

His eminence in natural history attracted the esteem of the most 
d'stinguishcd men in America and Europe. vv.(} he corresponded 
with many of them. By means of the friendshi]) of sir Han? 



BAS. 49 

31oane, Mr. Catesby, Dr. Hiil, Linnseus, and others he was furnish- 
ed -with books and apparatus, which he much needed, and which 
gi'eatly lessened the difficuhies of his situation. He in return sent 
them what was new and curious in the productions of America. 

He was elected ;a member of several of the most eminent societies 
and academies abroad, and was at length appointed American bot- 
anist to his Britannic majesty, Geort^e HI, in which appointment he 
continued till his death in September 1777, in the seventy sixth 
year of his age. 

Mr. Bartram was an ingenious mechanic. The stone house, in 
which he lived, he built himself, and several monuments of his 
skill remain in it. He was often his own mason, carpenter, black- 
smith, &c. and generally made his own farming utensils. 

His stature was rather above the middle size^ his body was erect 
and slender ; his complexion was sandy ; his countenance was 
cheerful, though there was a solemnity in his air. His gentle man- 
ners corresponded with his amiable disposition. He was modest, 
liberal, charitable ; a friend to social order ; and an advocate for the 
abolition of slavery. He gave freedom to a young African, whom 
he had brought up ; but he in gratitude to his master continued in 
his service. Though temperate, he kept a plentiful table ; and an- 
nually on new year's day he made an entertainment, consecrated to 
friendship and philosophy. 

He was born and educated in the society of ft lends. The follow- 
ing distich was engraved by himself on a stone in the wall over the 
front window of his own apartment. 

'Tis God alone, the almighty Lord, 
The holy One by me ador'd. 

John Bartram^ 1770. 

He left several children. John, his youngest son, succeeded him 
as proprietor of his botanic garden ; btit it is now chiefly under 
the superintendence of another son, Mr. William Bartram, who 
accompanied his father in many of his botanical tours, and who is 
well known by his book, entitled, travels through N. and S. Caroli- 
na, E. and W. Florida, &c. published in 1791. 

Several of Mr. Bartram's communications in zoology were pub- 
lished in the philosophical transactions between the years 1743 and 
1749. He published observations on the inhabitants, climate, soil, 
&c. made in his travels from Pennsylvania to Onondago, London, 
1751 ; description of East Florida, 4to, 1774. — Rees' cyclofioediay 
American edition ; Monthly a?ithology, y. 231 ; Miller's retrcs/ieciy 
i. 515 ; ii. 367. 

BASS (Edward, d. d.), first bishop of Massachusetts, was born 
at Dorchester Nov. 23, 1726, and was graduated at Harvard col- 
lege in 1744. For several years afterwards he was the teacher of 
a school. From 1747 to 1751 he resided at Cambridge, pursuing 
liis theological studies, and occasionally preaching. In 1752 at the 
7 



So BAY. 

request of the episcopal society in Newburyport he went to Eng- 
land for orders, and was ordained May 24, by bishop Sherlock. In 
1796 nc was unanimously elected by the convention of the proies- 
tant episcopal churches of Massachusetts to the office of bishop, and 
was consecrated May 7, 1797 by the bishops of Pennsylvania, New 
York, and Maryland. Sometime -iter, the episcopal churches in 
Rhode Island elected him tlieir bishop, and in 1803 a convention 
of the churches in New Hampshire put themselves under his juris- 
diction. He died Sep. 10, 1803, humble and resigned. He was a 
Kound divine, a critical scholar, an accomplisiied gentleman, and an 
exemplary christian. — Collections of the historical society, ix. 188. 

BAYARD (John), a friend to his country, and an eminent 
Christian, was born Aug. 11, 1738, on Bohemia manor in Cecil 
county, Maryland. His father died without a will, and being the 
eldest son he became entitled by the laws of Maryland to the whole 
real estate. Such however was his affection for his twin brother, 
younger than himself, that no sooner had he reached the age of 
manhood, than he conveyed to him half the estate. After receiv- 
ing an academical education under the reverend Dr. Finley, he 
was put into the compting house of Mr. John Rhea, a merchant of 
Philadelphia. It was here, that the seeds of grace began first to 
take root, and to give promise of those fruits of righteousness, 
which afterwards abounded. He early became a communicant of 
the presbytcrian church under the charge of Mr. Gilbert Tennent. 
Some years after his marriage he was chosen a ruling elder, and he 
filled this place with zeal and reputation. Mr. Whitefield, while 
on his visits to America, became intimately acquainted with Mr. 
Bayard, and was much attached to him. They made several tours 
together. On the 8th of January, 1770, Mr. Bayard lost his only- 
brother. Dr. James A. Bayard, a man of promising talents, of pru- 
dence and skill, of a most amiable disposition and growing reputa- 
tion. The violence of his sorrow at first produced an illness, which 
confined him to his bed for several days. By degrees it subsided 
into a tender melancholy, which for years after would steal across 
his mind, and tinge his hours of domestic intercoui'se and solitary 
devotion with pensive sadness. When his brother's widow died, 
he adopted the children, and educated them as his own. One of 
them is Mr. Bayard, a senator of the United States from Delaware. 

At the commencement of the revolutionary war he took a decid- 
ed part in favor of his country. At the head of the second battalion 
of the Philadelphia militia he marched to the assistance of Wash-* 
ington and was present at the battle of Trenton. He was a mem- 
ber of the council of safety, and for many years speaker of the le2:is- 
lature. In 1777, when there was a report that colonel Bayard's 
house had been destroyed by the British army, and that his servant, 
who had been entrusted with his personal property, had gone oft' 
with it to the enemy, Mr. William Bell, who had served his ap- 



BAY. 51 

prenticeship with colonel Bayard, and accumulated several thousand 
pounds, insisted that his patron sliouid receive one hail ot his estate. 
This generous oft'er was not accepted, as the report was without 
foundation. Reiterated afflictions induced a deep depression of 
mind, and for some time he was no longer relieved by the avoca- 
tions of business. In 1785 however he was appointed a member 
of the old congress, then sitting in New York, but in the ioUowing 
year he was left out of the delegation. In 1788 he removed to New 
Brunswick, where he was mayor oi the city, judge of the court of 
common pleas, and a ruling elder of the church. Here he died 
Jan. 7, 1807, in the 69th year of his age. 

At his last hour he was not left in darkness. That Redeemer, 
whom he had served with zeal, was with him to support him and 
give him the victory. During his last illness he spoke much of his 
brother, and one night, awaking from sleep, exclaimed, " my dear 
brother, I shall soon be with you." He addressed his two sons, 
" my dear children, you see me just at the close oi life. Death has 
no terrors to me. What now is all the world to me ? I would not 
exchange my hope in Christ for ten thousand worlds. I once en- 
tertained some doubts of his divinity ; but, biessed be God, these 
doubts were soon removed by inquiry and Reflection. From that 
time my hope of acceptance with God has rested on his merits and 
atonement. ' Out of Christ God is a consuming fire." As he ap- 
proached nearer the grave, he said," I shall soon be at rest ; I shall 
soon be with my God. Oh glorious hope ! Blessed rest ! How 
precious are the promises of the gospel 1 It is the support oi my 
soul in my last moments." While sitting up, supported by his two 
daughters, holding one of his sons by the hand, and looking intent- 
ly in his face, he said, " my christian brother !" Then turning to 
his daughters he continued, " you are my chrititian sisters. Soon 

will our present ties be dissolved, but more glorious bonds " 

He could say no more, but his looks and arms, directed towards 
heavejT, expressed every thing. He frequently commended him- 
self to the blessed Redeemer, confident of his love ; and the last 
words, which escaped from his dying lips, were, " Lord Jesus, 
Lord Jesus, Lord Jesus." — Evang. intelligencer^ i. 1 — 7, 49 — 57, 

BAYLEY (Matthias), remarkable for longevity, died about 
the year 1789 at Jones' creek, a branch of the Pedee, in North Car- 
olina, aged one hundred and thirty six years. He was baptized, 
when he was one hundred and thirty four. His eye sight remained 
good, and his strength was very remarkable til{ his death.-^./^»im- 
can museum^ vii. 206. 

BEACH (John), an episcopal clergyman and writer, was gradu- 
ated at Yale college in 172 1, and was for a number of years a con- 
gregational minister at Newtown in Connecticut. Through his 
acquaintance with the reverend Dr. Johnson he was induced to em- 
brace the episcopal persuasion. In 1732 he went to England fop 



5-2 BEL. 

orders, and on his return was employed as an episcopalian mission- 
ary at Reading in Connecticut. 

He published an appeal to the unprejudiced in answer to a sermon 
of reverend Mr. Dickinson, 1757 ; also about the year 1745 a ser- 
mon on Romans vi. 23, entitled, a sermon shewing that eternal life 
is God's free gin, bestowed upon men according to their moral be- 
havior. In this he opposed with much zeal some of the calvinistic 
doctrines, contained in the articles of the church, which he had 
joined. The reverend Jonathan Dickinson wrote remarks upon it 
the following year in his vuidication of God's sovereign free grace, 
which called forth a reply from Mr. Beach, entitled, God's sove- 
reignty and his universal love to the souls of men reconciled, in the 
form of a dialogue, 1747. He wrote also a reply to Mr. Dickin- 
son's second vindication. Mr. Beach was a bold and distinguished 
advocate of those doctrines, which arc denominated arminian. What- 
ever may be said of his argument in his dispute with Mr. Dickin- 
son, he evidently yields to his antagonist in gentleness and civility 
of manner. 

Another controversy, in which Mr. Beach was engaged, was res- 
pecting episcopacy. He published in 1749, in answer to reverend 
Mr. Hobart's first address, a calm and dispassionate vindication of 
the professors of the church of England, to which Dr. Johnson wrote 
a preface and Mr. Caner an appendix. He seems to have had high 
notions of the necessity of episcopal ordination. His other publica- 
tions are, the duty of loving our enemies, 1738 ; an inquiry into 
the slate of the dead, 1755 ; a sermon on the death of the reverend 
Dr. Johnson, 1772 — Chandler^ s UJe of Johnson^ 62, 126. 

BELCHER (Saml'El), first minister of that parish in Newbury, 
Massachusetts, which is called Newbury Newtown, was graduated 
at Harvard college in 1659. He was ordained November 30, 1698. 
The time of his death has not been ascertained ; but it was after 
the year 1712, He was a good scholar, a judicious divine, and a 
holy and humble man. He published an election sermon, 1707. — 
Coll. hist. soc. X. 168. 

BELCHER (Jonathan), governor of Massachusetts and New 
Jersey, was the son of the honorable Andrew Belcher of Cambridge, 
one of his majesty's council in the province of Massachusetts Bay, 
and was born about the year 1618. His father took peculiar care 
in regard to the education of this son, on whom the hopes of the 
family were fixed. He was graduated at Harvard college in 1699. 
While a member of this institution his open and pleasant conversa- 
tion, joined with his manly and t!;enerous conduct, conciliated the 
esteem of all his acquaintance. Not Jong after the termination of 
his collegial course, he visited Europe, that he might enrich his 
mind by his observations upon the viious manners and characters 
of men, and might return, furnished with that useful knowledge, 
which is gained by intercourse ^ith the world. 



BEL. 53 

During an absence of six years from his native country he was 
preserved from those follies, into which inexperienced youth are 
frequently drawn, and he even maintained a constant regard to that 
holy religion, of Avhich he had early made a profession. He was 
every where treated with the greatest respect. The acquaintance, 
which he formed with the princess Sophia and her son, afterwards 
king George II, laid the foundation of his future honors. After his 
return from his travels he lived in Boston in the character of a mer- 
chant with great reputation. He was chosen a member of the coun- 
cil, and the general assembly sent him as an agent of the province 
to the British court in the year 1729. 

After the death of governor Burnet, he was appointed by his 
majesty to the government of Massachusetts and New Hampshire 
in 1T30. In this station he continued eleven years. His style of 
living was elegant and splendid, and he was distinguished for hos- 
pitality. By the depreciation of the currency his salary was much 
diminished in value, but he disdained any unwarrantable means of 
enriching himself, though apparently just and sanctioned by his 
predecessors in office. He had been one of the principal merchants 
of New England, but he quitted his business on his accession to the 
chair of the first magistrate. Having a high sense of the dignity 
of his commission he was determined to support it even at the ex- 
pense of his private fortune. Frank and sincere, he was extreme- 
ly liberal in his censures both in conversation and letters. This 
imprudence in a public officer gained him enemies, who were deter- 
mined on revenge. He also assumed some authority, which had 
not been exercised before, though he did not exceed his commis- 
sion. These crnses of complaint, together with a controversy 
respecting a fixed salary, which had been transmitted to him from 
his predecessors, and his opposition to the land bank company final- 
ly occasioned his removal. His enemies were so inveterate and so 
regardless of justice and truth, that as they were unable to find real 
grounds for impeaching his integrity, they forged letters for the 
purpose of his ruin. On being superseded, he repaired to court, 
wliere he vindicated his character and conduct, and exposed the 
base designs of his enemies. He was restored to the royal favor, 
and Avas promised the first vacant government in America. This 
vacancy occurred in the province of New Jersey, where he arrived 
in 1747, and where he spent the remaining years cf his life. In 
this province his memory has been held in deserved respect. 

When he first arrived in this province, he found it in the utmost 
confusion by tumults and riotous disorders, which had for some 
time prevailed. This circumstance, joined to the unhappy contro- 
versy between the two branches of the legislature, rendered the 
first part of his administration peculiarly difficult; hut by his firm 
and prudent measures., he surmounted the difficulties of his situa- 
tion. He steadily pursued the interest of the province, endeavor- 



54 BEL. 

ing to distinguish and promote men of worth without partiality. 
He enlar^ied the charter of Princeton college, and was its cliief pat- 
ron and benefactor. Even under the growing infirmities of age 
he applied himself with his accustomed assiiluity and diligence to 
the high duties of his office. He died at Elizabeth Town August 
31, 1757, aged seventy six years. His body was brought to Cam- 
bridge, Massachusetts, where it was entombed. 

Governor Belcher possessed uncommon gracefulness of pers(xi 
and dignity of deporti. ent. He obeyed the royal instructions on 
the one hand and exhibited a real regard to the liberties and happi- 
ness of the people on the other. He was distinguished by his un- 
shaken integrity, by his zeal for justice, and care to have it equally 
distributed. Neither the claims of interest, nor the solicitations of 
friends could move him from what appeared to be his duty. He 
seems to have possessed, in addition to his other accomplishments, 
that piety, whose lustre is eternal His religion was not a mere 
formal thing, which he received from tradition, or professed in con- 
formity to the custom of the country, in which he lived ; it was re- 
al and genuine, for it impressed his heart, and governed his life. 
He had such views of the majesty and holiness of God, of the strict- 
ness and purity of the divine law, and of his own unworthiness and 
iniquity, as made him disclaim all dependence on his own righteous- 
ness, and led him to place his whole hope for salvation on the mer- 
its of the Lord Jesus Christ, who appeared to him an all sufficient 
and glorious Savior. He expressed the huml)lest sense of his own 
character and the most exalted views oi the rich, free, and glorious 
grace, ofTcred- in the gospel to sinners. His faith worked by love, 
and produced the genuine fruits of obedience. It exhibited 
itself in a life of piety and devotion, of meekness and humili- 
ty, of justice, truth, and benevolence. He searched the holy 
sciiptures with the greatest diligence and delight. In his family 
he maintained the worship of God, himself reading the volume, 
of truth, and addressing in prayer the Majesty of heaven and of 
earth as long as his health and strength would possibly admit. In 
the hours of retirement he held intercourse with heaven, carefully 
redeeming time from the business of this world to attend to the 
more important concerns of another. Though there was nothing 
ostentatious in his rcli;^ion, yet he was not ashamed to avow his at- 
tachment to the gospel of Christ, even when he exposed himself to 
ridicule and censure. When the reverend Mr. Whitefield was at 
Boston in the year 1740, he treated that elociucnt itinerant with the 
gre.itcst respect. He even followed him as far as ^^'orcester, and 
requ( sted him to continue his faithful instructions and pungent ad- 
dresses to the conscience, desiring him loi-fiare ntilher mimstfrsnor 
rulerfi. He was indeed deeply interested in the progress of holi- 
ness and religion. As he approached the termination of his life, he 
often expressed his desires to depart, and to enter the world of glc,- 



BEL. 55 

i'y,.^Surr*s funeral sermon ; Hutchinson^ ii. 367—397 ; Holmes.* 
annals^ ii. 224 ; Smith's JV. Jersey, 437, 438 ; Belknafi's JV. Hamfi- 
ahirey ii. 95, 96, 126, 165 — 180 ; Whit efie Id's journal for 1743 j 
Marshall, i. 299 ; Minot's Mass i. 61. 

BELCHER (Jonathan), chief justice of Nova Scotia, was the 
soft of governor Belcher of Massachusetts, and was graduated at 
Harvard college in 1728. He wus bred to the law and gained some 
distinction at the bar in England. He was then appointed lieuten- 
ant governor of Nova Scotia, where he was also commander in 
chief. His last appointment was that of chief justice. His death 
took place in March 1776. 

BELKNAP (Jeremy, d. d.), minister in Boston, and eminent 
as a writer, was born in Boston June 4, 1744. He received the 
rudiments of learning in the grammar school of the celebrated 
Mr. Lovel, and was graduated at Harvard college in 1762. He ex- 
hibited, at this early period, such marks of genius and taste, and 
such talents in writing and conversation, as to excite the most pleas- 
ing hopes of his future usefulness and distinction. Having upon 
his mind deep impressions of the truths of religion, he now applied 
himself to the study of theology, and he was ordained pastor of the 
church in Dover, New Hampshire, February 18, 1767. Here he 
passed near twenty years of his life with the esteem and affection 
of his flock, and respected by the first characters of the state. He 
was persuaded by them to compile his history of New Hampshire, 
which gaineu him a high reputation. In 1786 he was dismissed 
from his people. 

The presbyterian church in Boston, becoming vacant by the re- 
moval of the reverend Mr. Annan, and having changed its establish- 
ment from the presbyterian to the congregational form, soon invit- 
ed him to become its pastor. He was accordingly installed April 
4, 1787. Here he passed the remainder of his days, discharging 
the duties of his pastoral office, exploring various fields of litera- 
ture, and giving his efficient support to every useful and benevo- 
lent institution. After being subject to frequent returns of ill health, 
he was suddenly seized by a paralytic affection, and died June 20, 
1798, aged 54 years. 

Dr. Belknap in his preaching did not aim at splendid diction, but 
presented his thoughts in plain and perspicuous language, that all 
might understand him. While he lived in Boston, he avoided con- 
troversial subjects, dwelling chiefly upon the practical views of the 
gospel. His sermons were filled with a rich variety of observations 
on human life and manners. He was peculiarly careful in giving 
religious instruction to young children, that their feet might be 
early guided in the way of life. In the afternoon preceding his 
death he was engaged in catechising the youth of his society. 

In the various relations of life his conduct was exemplary. He 
was a member of many literary and humane societies, whgse inter- 



56 BEL. 

ests he essentially promoted. Wherever he could be of any ser- 
vice he freely devoted his lime and talents. He was one of tlie 
founders of the Massachusetts historical society, the design of which 
he was induced to form in consequence of his frequent disappoint- 
ment from the loss of valuable papers in prosecuting his historical 
researches. He had been taught the value of an association, whose 
duty it should be to collect and preserve manuscripts and bring to- 
gether the materials for illustrating the history of our country, and 
he iiad the happiness of seeing such an institution incorporated in 
1794. 

As an author Dr. Belknap sustains a high reputation. Before 
the revolution he wrote much in favor of freedom and his country., 
and he afterwards gave to the public many fruits of his labors and 
researches. His last and most interesting work, his American bi- 
ography, he did not live to complete. For this work the public 
voice pronounced him peculiarly qualified, and it was hoped, that 
he would extend it through the successive periods of his country's 
history. He was a decided advocate of our republican forms 
of government, and ever was a warm friend of the constitution of 
the United States, which he considered the bulwark of our national 
security and happiness. He was earnest in his wishes and prayers 
for the government of his country, and in critical periods took an 
open and unequivocal, and, as far as professional and private duties 
allowed, an active part. 

The following extract from some lines, found among his papers, 
expresses his choice with regard to the manner of his death, and the 
event corresponded with his wishes. 

When faith and patience, hope and love 

Have made us meet for heaven above^ ' 

How blest the privilege to rise, 

Snatch'd in a moment to the skies ! 

Unconscious to resign our breath, 

Nor taste the bitterness of death. 
Dr. Belknap published a sermon on military duty, preached at 
Dover, 1773 ; a serious address to a parishioner upon the neglect 
of public worship; a sermon on Jesus Christ, the only foundation, 
preached before an association of ministers in New Hampshire ; 
election sermon, preached at Portsmouth, 1784; history of New 
Hampshire, the first volume in 1784, the second in 1791, and the 
third in 1792 ; a sermon at the ordination of the reverend Jedidiah 
Morse, 1789 ; a discourse delivered at the request of the historical 
society, October, 1792, being the completion of the third century 
frcm Columbus' discovery of America ; dissertations upon the 
character and resurrection of Christ, 12mo; collection of psalms and 
hymns, 1795 ; convention sermon, 1796 ; a sermon on the national 
fast, May 9, 1798 ; American biography, first volume in 1794, the 
second in 1798 ; the foresters, an American tale, being a sequel to 



BEL. 57 

the history of John Bull the clothier, 12mo. He published also seve- 
ral essays upon the Airican trade, upon civil and religious liberty, 
upon the state and settlement ot this country in periodical papers ; 
in the Columbian raas^azine printed in Philadelphia ; in the Boston 
magazine, 1784 ; in the historical collections ; and in newspapers. 
Two of his sermons on the institution and observation of the sab- 
bath were published in 1801. — Collections of historical society, vi. x 
— xviii ; Columbian centinel, June 25, 1798 ; Rees'cyclofioedia, Phil, 
edit.; Miller's recrospcct, ii. 142; Polyanthos, i.l— -12 ; Hardie^s 
biografihy. 

BELLAMONT (Richard, earl of), governor of New York, 
Massachusetts, and New Hampshire, was appointed to tnese offices 
early in May 1695, but did not arrive at New York until May 1698. 
He had to struggle with many difficulties, for the people were di- 
vided, the treasury was unsuppiied, and the fortifications were out 
of repiiir. Notwithstanding the care of government, the pirates, 
who in time of peace made great depredations upon Spanish ships 
and settlements in America, were frequently in the sound, and were 
supplied with provisions by the inhabit<mts of Long Island. The 
belief, that large quantities of money were hid by these pirates along 
the coast, led to many a fruitless search ; and thus the natural cre- 
dulity of the human mind and the desire of sudden wealth were 
suitably punished. 

The earl of Bellamont remained in the province of New York 
about a year. He arrived at Boston May 26, 1699, and in Massa- 
chusetts he was received with the greatest respect, as it was a new 
thing to see a nobleman at the head of the government. Hein return 
took every method to ingratiate himself with the people. He was 
condescending, affable, and courteous upon all occasions. Though 
a churchman he attended the weekly lecture in Boston with the gen- 
eral court, who always adjourned for the purpose. For the preach- 
ers he professed the greatest regard. By his wise conduct he ob- 
tained a larger sum as a salary and as a gratuity, than any of his 
predecessors or successors. Though he remained but fourteen 
months, the grants made him were one thousand eight hundred and 
seventy five pounds sterling. His time was much taken up in se- 
curing the pirates and their eflects,to accomplish which was a prin- 
cipal reason of his appointment. During his administration cap- 
tain Kidd was seized, and sent to England for trial. Soon after the 
session of the general court in May 1700, he returned to New 
York, where he died March 5, 170 1. 

The earl of Bellamont had made himself very popular in his gov- 
ernments. He was a nobleman of polite manners, a friend to the 
revolution, which excited so much joy in New England, and a fa- 
vorite of king William. 

Hutchinson seems to consider his regard to religion as pretend- 
ed, and represents him as preferring for his associates in private 
8 



58 BEL. 

the less ftrcciac part of the country. As the earl was once going 
fi-oin the lecture to his house with a great crowd around him, he 
passed by one iJuUivant, an apothecary, and a man ot the liberal 
cast, who was standing at his shop dour loitering. " Doctor," said 
the earl with an audible voice, '' you have lost a precious sermon 
to day." BuUivant whispered to one ol his companions, who stood 
by him, " if I could have got as much by being there, as his lord- 
ship will, I would have been there too." — Hutchinaon^ ii. 87, 108, 
112 — .116, 121 ; Helknaji's J\r. Ha7n/ishireyi.3O\y304,y 309 ; Doug- 
fas.'i, ii. 248 ; Harclie. 

BliLLAMY (Joseph, D.O.), an eminent minister, was born at 
New Cheshire, Connecticut, in 1719, and was graduated at Yale 
college in 1735. It was not long after his removal from New Ha- 
ven, that he became the subjectof those serious impressions, which, 
it is believed, issued in renovation of heart. From this period he 
consecrated his talents to the evangelical ministry. At the age of 
eiij;hteen he began to preach with acceptance and success. An un- 
common blessing attended his ministry at Bethlehem in the town 
of Woodbury ; a large proportion of the society appeared to be 
awakened to a sense of religion ; and they were unAvilling to part 
with the man, by whose ministry they had been conducted to a 
knowledge of t'le truth. He was ordained to the pastoral office 
over this church in 1740. In this retirement he devoted himself 
with uncommon ardor to his studies and the duties of his office till 
the memorable revival, which was most conspicuous in 1742. His 
spirit of piety was then blown into a flame ; he could not be con- 
lentt d to confine his labors to his small society. Taking care that 
his own pulpit should be vacant as little as possible, he devoted a 
considerable i)art of his time for several years to itinerating in dif- 
ferent parts of Connecticut and the neighboring colonies, preaching 
the gospel diiiy to multitudes, who flocked to hear him. He was 
instrumental in the conversion of many. When the awakening 
decliiied, he returned to a more constant attention to his own 
charge. He now began the task of writing an excellent treatise, 
entitled, true religion delineated, which was published in 1750. His 
abilities, his ardent piety, his theological knowledge, his acquaint- 
ance with persons under all kinds of religious impressions qualified 
him peculiarly for a work of this kind. From this time he became 
more consj^icuous, and young men, who were preparing for the 
gospel ministry, applied to him as a teacher. In this branch of 
his work he was eminently useful till the decline of life, when he 
r<;linquished it. His method of instruction was the following. 
After ascertaining the abiiities and p;enius of those, wi\o applied to 
him, he gave them a number of questifms on the leading and most 
cssont ill subjects of religion in the form of a system. He then 
directed thcin to such books as treat these subjects with the great- 
est perspicuitv and force of arq^ument, and usuallv spent his even- 
ngs in inquiring into their improvements and solving difficulties, 



BEL. 59 

till they had obtained a good degree of understanding in the gen« 
eral system. Alter this, he directed them to write on each oi the 
questions Deiore jjiven them, reviewing those parts ot the authors, 
wiiicn treated on the subject proposed. These dissertations were 
submitted to his examination. As they advanced in ability to 
make proper distinctions ne ied them to read the most learned 
and acute opposers ot the truth, the deistical, arian, and socinian 
writers, ana laid open tne tVJlicy of their most specious reason- 
ings. When the system was completed he directed them to write 
on several of the most important points systematically, in the 
form of sermons. He next led them to peruse the best ex- 
perimental and practical discourses, and to compose sermons on 
like subjects. He revised and corrected their compositions, incul- 
catmg the necessity of a heart ti^uly devoted to Christ, and a life of 
watching and prayer, discoursing occasionally on the various duties, 
trials, comforts, and motives of the evangelical work, that his pu- 
pils might be, as far as possible, " scribes well instructed in the 
kingdom of God." 

In 1786 Dr. Bellamy was seized by a paralytic affection, from 
which he never recovered. He died March 6, 1790, in the fiftieth 
■year of his ministry, and the seventy second year of his age. 

As a preacher, he had perhaps no superior, and very few equals. 
His voice was manly, his manner engaging and most impressive. 
He had a peculiar faculty of arresting the attention ; he was mas- 
ter of his subject and could adapt himself to the meanest capacity. 
When the law was his theme, he was awful and terrifying ; on the 
contrary, in the most melting strains would he describe the suffer- 
ings of Christ and his love to sinners, and with most persuasive 
eloquence invite them to be reconciled to God. As a pastoi', he 
was diligent and faithful. He taught not only publicly but from 
house to house. He was particularly attentive to the rising gen- 
eration. Besides the stated labors of the Lord's day he frequently 
spent an hour in the intervals of public worship in catechising the 
children of the congregation. 

In a variety of respects Dr. Bellamy shone with distinguished 
lustre. Extensive science and ease of communicating his ideas 
rendered him one of the best of instructors. His writings pro- 
cured him the esteem of the pious and learned at home and abroad, 
Avith many of whom he maintained an epistolary correspondence. Ifi 
his preaching a mind rich in thought, a great command of language, 
and a powerful voice rendered his extemporary discourses peculiar- 
ly acceptable. He was one of the most able divines of this country. 
In his sentiments he accorded with president Edwards, with whom 
he was intimately acquainted. 

He published a sermon entitled, early piety recommende<^1 ; true 
relii>ion delineated, 1750 ; three sermons or. the divinity oi Christ, 
the millennium, and the wisdom of God iii the permission of sin, 



60 BEL. 

1758 ; dialot^ues ou Thcron and Aspasio by Paulinus ; essay on 
the glory of the gospel ; a vindication of liis sermon on tlie wis- 
dom of God in the permission of sin ; the law a schoolmaster, a 
sermon; the gre..t evil of sin ; election sermon, 1762, Besides 
these he pul)lished several small pieces on creeds and confessions ; 
on the covenant of grace ; on churcn covenanting ; and in answer 
to objections made against his writings. The lollowing are the 
titles of some of these ; the half way covenant, a dialogue, 1769; 
a second dialogue concerning the halfway covenant, 1769; the 
inconsistency of renouncing llie half way covenant and retaining 
the half way practice ; that there is but one covenant, against the 
l-everend Moses Ma{hev.-—>Bencdici'ii funeral sermon ; Brainerd's 
life, 21, 41, 43, 55. 

BELLINGHAM (Richard), governor of Massachusetts, was 
a native of England, where he was bred a lawyer. He came to 
this country in 1634, and in the following year was chosen deputy 
governor. In 1641 he was elected governor in opposition to Mr. 
Winthrop by a majority of six votes ; but the election did not seem 
to be agreeable to the general court. He was rechosen to this of- 
fice in 1654, and after the death of governor Endicot was again elect- 
ed in May 1665. He continued chief magistrate of Massachusetts 
during the remainder of his life. He died Dec. 7, 1672, aged 
eighty years. 

Governor Bellingham lived to be the only surviving patentee 
named in the charter. He was severe against those, who were call- 
ed sectaries ; but he was a man of incorruptible integrity, and it is 
mentioned as rather a remarkable circumstance, that he never took 
a bribe. In the ecclesiastical controversy, which was occasioned in 
Boston by the settlement of the reverend Mr. Davenport, he was 
an advocate of the first church. Though a lawyer, his will was 
drawn up in such a manner, that the general court were obliged 
to make a disposition of his property themselves. — Hutchinson*e 
hist. Mas.farhusetts, i. 41, 43, 97, 253, 258, 269 ; Mai's hist. J\cii' 
England, i. 390 ; Mather's magnalia, ii. 18 ; Hobnes' annals, i. 414. 

BENEZRT (Anthony), a philantlirophist of Philadelphia, was 
born at St. Quintins, a town in the province of Picardy, France, Jan. 
31, 1713. About the time of his birth the persecution against the 
protestants was carried on with relentless severity, in consequence 
of which many thousands found it necessary to leave their native 
country, and seek a shelter in foreign lands. Among these were 
his parents, who removed to London in Feb. 1715, and afier re- 
maining there upwards of sixteen years came to Philadelphia inNov. 
1731. During their residence in Great Britain they had imbibed 
the religious opinions of the society of friends, and they were re- 
ceived into that body immediately after their arrival in this country. 

In the early part of his life Benezet was put an apprentice to a 
merchant ; but soon alter his marriage in 1722, when his affairs 



BEN. 6i 

were in a prosperous situation, he left the mercantile business, that 
he might engage in some pursuit, which was not so adapted to 
excite or to promote a worldly spirit, and which would afford him 
more leisure for the duties of religion and for the exercise of 
that benevolent spirit, for which during the course of a long life he 
was so conspicuous. But no employment, which accorded per- 
fectly with his inclination, presented itself till the year 1742, when 
he accepted the appointment of instructor in the friends' English 
school of Philadelphia. The duties of the honorable, though not 
very lucrative office of a teacher of youth, he from this period 
continued to fulfil with unremitting assiduity and delight and with 
very little intermission till his death. During the two last years 
of his life his zeal to do good induced him to resign the school, 
which he had long superintended, and to engage in the instruction 
of the blacks. In doing this he did not consult his worldly interest, 
but was influenced by a regard to the welfare of that miserable 
class of beings, whose minds had been debased by servitude. He 
wished to contribute something towards rendering them fit for the 
enjoyment of that freedom, to which many of them had been res- 
tored. 

So great was his sympathy with every being capable of feeling 
pain, that he resolved towards the close of his life to eat no animal 
food. This change in his nvxle oftiving is supposed to have been 
the occasion of his death. His active mind did not yield to the 
debility of his body. He persevered in his attendance upon his 
school till within a £e\v days of his decease. He died May 3, i784, 
in the seventy second year of his age. 

Such was the general esteem, in which he was held, that his 
funeral was attended by persons of all religious denominations. 
Many hundred negroes followed their friend and benefactor to the 
grave, and by their tears they proved, that they possessed the sen- 
sibility of men. An officer, who had served in the army during 
the war with Great Britain, observed at this time " I would 
rather be Anthony Benezet in that coffin, than George Washington 
with all his fame." 

He exhibited uncommon activity and industry in every thing, 
which he undertook. He used to say that the highest act of char- 
ity was to bear with the unreasonableness of mankind. He gener- 
ally wore plush clothes, and gave as a reason for it, that after he 
had worn them for two or three years, they made comfortable and 
decent garments for the poor. So disposed was he to make him- 
self contented in every situation, that v/hen his memory began to 
fail him, instead of lamenting the decay of his powers, he said to a 
young friend, " this gives me one great advantage over you, for 
you can find entertainment in reading a good book only once ; 
but I enjoy that pleasure as often as I read it, for it is always new 
to me/' Few men, since the days of the apostles, eve i- lived a more 



62 BEN. 

disinterested life ; yet upon his death bed he cxprcsseil his desire 
to live a little longer, " that he mi^ht \mn^ down «t//." '1 he lust 
time ne ever walked across his room was to take from his desk six 
dollars, which he gave to a poor widow, whom he had long assisted 
to maintain. In his conveisalion he was afi'able and unreserved ; 
in his manners gentle and concili..thig. ior t;ie acquisition of 
wealth he wanted neither abilities nor opportunity ; but he made 
himself contented with a little, and with a competency he was lib- 
eral beyond most of those, wiiom a bountilul providence had en- 
cumbered with riches. By his will he devised his estate, after the 
decease of his wife, to certain trustees lor the use of the African 
school. 

During the time the British army was in possession of Philadel- 
phia he was indefatigable in his endeavors to render the situation of 
the persons, wlio suffered from captivity, as easy as possible. He 
knew no fear in the presence of a lellow man, however dignified 
by titles or station ; and such was the propriety and gentleness of 
his manners in his intercourse with the gentlemen, who command- 
ed the British and German troops, that when he could not obtain 
the object of his requests, he never failed to secure their civilities 
and esteem. 

Though the life of Mr. Benezet was passed in the instruction of 
youth, yet his expansive benevolence extended itself to a wider 
sphere of usefulness. Giving but a small portion of his time to 
sleep, he employed his pen both day and night in writing books on 
religious subjects, composed chiefly with a view to inculcate the 
peaceable temper and doctrines of the gospel in opposition to the 
spirit of war, and to expose the fli.grant injustice of slavery, and 
fix the ctamp of infctmy on the traffic in human blood. His writ- 
ings contributed much towards meliorating the condition of slaves, 
and undoubtedly had influence on the public mind in effecting the 
complete prohil/uion of thi-.t trade, which until the year 1808 was a 
Wot on the American national character. 

To disseminate his publications and increase his usefulness he 
held a correspondence with such persons in various parts of Eu- 
rope and America, as united with him in the same benevolent 
design, or would be likely to promote the objects, which he was 
pursuing. No ambitious or covetous views impelled him to his 
exertions. Regarding all mankind as children of one common 
Father and members of one great family, he was anxious that op- 
pression and tyranny should cease, and that men should live together 
in mutual kindness and aff"ection. He himself respected and he 
wished others to respect the sacred injunction, " do unto others as 
you would that they should do unto you." 

On the return of peaco in 1783, apprehending that the revival 
of commerce would be likely to rcne%v the African slave trade, 
which during the war had been in some measure obstructed, he 



BER. 63 

addressed a letter to the queen of Great Britain to solicit her in- 
fluence on tne side of humanity. At tne ciose of this letter he 
says, " I hope thou wilt kindly excuse the freedom used on this 
occasion by an ancient man, whose mind for more than forty years 
past has been much separated from the common course of the 
world, and long- painfully exercised in the consideration of the 
miseries, under which so large a purt of mankind, equally with us 
the objects of redeeming love, are suffering the most unjust and 
grievous oppression, and who sincerely desires the temporal and 
eternal felicity of the queen ami her royal consort." 

He published, am'-ng other tracts, a caution to Great Britain and 
her colonif s in a short representation of the calamitous stati. of the 
enslaved negroes in the British dominions, 1767; some historical 
account of Guinea, with an inquiry into the rise and progress of 
the slave trade, 1771 ; observations on the Indian natives of this 
continent, 1784. — Hardie's biography ; New and general biog. dic- 
tionary ; American museum.) ix. 192 — 194 ; Reen' cyclo/ioedia. 

BERKELEY (George), bishop of Cloyne in Ireland, and a dis- 
tinguished benefactor of Yale college, was born March 12, 1684 
at Kilcrin in the county of Kilkenny, and was educated at Trinity 
college, Dublin. After publishing a number of his works, which 
gained him a his^h reputation, he travelled four or five years upon 
the continent. He returned in 1721, and a fortune was soon be* 
queathed him by a lady of Dublin, the " Vanessa" of Swift. In 
1724 he was promoted to the deanery of Derry, worth eleven hun- 
dred pounds per annum. 

Having for some time conceived the benevolent project of convert- 
ing the savages of America to Christianity by means of a college 
to be erected in one of the isles of Bermuda, he published a propos- 
al for this purpose at London in 1725, and offered to resign his 
own opulent preferment, and to dedicate the rem^iinder of his life 
to the instruction of youth in America on the subsistence of a hvm- 
drtd pounds a year. He obtained a grant of 10,0001. from the 
government of Great Britain, and immediately set sail for the field 
of his labors. He arrived at Newport, Rhode Island, in February 
1729 with a view of settling a correspondence there for supplying 
his college with such provisions, as might be wanted from the 
northern colonies. Here be purchased acountry seat and farm, in the 
neighborhood of Newport, and resided about two years and a half. 
His res'dence in this country had some influence on the progress 
of literature, particularly in Rhode Island and Connecticut. The 
presence and conversation of a man so illustrious for talents, learn- 
ing, virtue, and social attractions could not fail of giving a spring to 
the literary diligence and ambition of many, who enjoyed his ac- 
quaintance. 

Finding at length, that the promised aid of the ministry towards 
his new college would fail him, dean Berkeley returned to England. 



U BER. 

At his dcprrturc he distributed the books, which he had brouglft 
with him, amonf.; the clergy of Rhode Island. He embarked at 
Boston in September 1731. In the following year he published 
his minute philosopher, a work of great ingenuity and merit, which 
he wrote, while at Newport. It was not long bctore he sent as a 
gift to Yale college a deed of the farm, which h^ held in Rhode 
island; the rents of wiic.h he directed to be appropriated to the- 
maintenance of the three I -est classical scholars, who should reside 
at college at least nine months in a year in each of the three years 
between their first and second degrees. All surplusages of mon- 
ey, arising from accidental vacancies, were to be distributed in Greek 
and Latin books to such undergraduates, as should make the best 
composition in the Latin tongue upon such a moral theme, as should 
be given t! em. He also made a present to the library of Yale 
college of near one thousand volumes. When it is considered, 
that he was warmly attached to the episcopal church, and that he 
came to Americ i for the express purpose of founding an episcopal 
college, his munificence to an institution, under the exclusive di- 
rection of a difl'erent denomination, must be thought worthy of 
high praise. 

It was in the year 1733, that he was made bishop of Cloyne, and 
from this period he discharged with exemplaiy faithfulness the 
episcopal duties, and prosecuted his studies with unabating dili- 
gence. On the 14th of January 175 3 he was suddenly seized by a 
disorder, called the palsy of the heart, and instantly expired, being 
near sixty nine years of age. 

Bishop Berkeley, while at Cloyne, constantly rose between three 
and four in the morning. His favorite author was Plato. His 
character, though marked by enthusiasm, was singularly excellent 
and amiable. Ho was held by his acquaintance in the highest esti- 
mation. Bishop Atterbury. after being introduced to him, exclaim- 
ed, " so much understanding, so much knowledge, so much in- 
Bocence, and such humility I did not think had been the portion of 
any but angels, till I saw this gentleman." It is well known, that 
bishop Berkeley rejected the commonly received notion of the ex- 
istence of matter, and contended, that what arc called scnsii.le ma- 
terial objects are not external but exist in the mind, and are merely 
impressions made upon our mind by the immediate act of God. 
These peculiar sentiments he supported in his work, entitled, the 
principles of human knowledge, 1710, and in the dialogues between 
Hylas and Philonous, 1713. Besides these works, and the minute 
philosopher, in wliich he alt^icks the free thinker with great inge- 
nuity and effect, he published also, arithmclica absque algebra aut 
Euclide demonstrata, 1707 ; theory of vision, 1709 ; de motu, 
1721 ; ;in essay towards preventing the ruin of Great Britain, 
1721 ; the analyst, 1734 ; a defence of free thinking in mathe- 
matics, 1735 ; the querist, 1735 ; discourse addressed to magis- 



BER. 65 

.twtes, 1736 ; on the virtues of tar water, 1744 ; maxims concern- 
ing patriotism, 1750. — •Chandler's lije of Johnson^ 4,7— &0 ; Miller's 
retrosfiectf'u, 549 ; Rees'' cyclojicedia ; Holmes' annals j'n. 193, 

BERKLEY (William), governor of Virginia, was bom of an 
ancient family near London and Avas educated at Merton college, 
Oxford, of which he was afterwards a fellow. He was admitted 
master of arts in 1629. In 1630 he travelled in different parts of 
Europe. He succeeded sir John Harvey in the government of 
Virginia about the year 1639. This gentleman had conducted in 
f>o arbitrary a manner, that the inhabitants of Virginia seized him 
and sent him home a prisoner. King Charles restored him, but 
very soon afterwards recalled him, and appointed in his stead a 
more just and worthy man, sir William Berkley. On his arrival he 
found the country engaged in an Indian war, which much interrupt- 
ed its prosperity. The war v/as occasioned by the encroachments 
of governor Harvey in the pjrants of land, which he had given. 
Tlic natives had massacred about 500 of the colonists, and w^cre 
still carrying on the work of destruction. But sir Wijliam with a 
party of horse surprised the aged Oppecancanough, and brought 
him prisoner to James Town. The Indian emperor was a man of 
dignified sentiments. One day, when there was a large crowd in 
his room gazing at him, he called for the governor, and said to him, 
" if it had been my fortune to have taken sir William Berkley pris- 
oner, I should have disdained to have made a show of him to my 
people." About a fortnight after he was taken, a brutal soldier 
shot him through the back, of which wound the old man soon died. 
A firm peace was soon afterwards made with the Indians. 

During the civil war in England governor Berkley took the side 
of the king, and Virginia was the last of the possessions of England, 
which acknowledged the authority of Cromwell. Severe laws v/ere 
made against the puritans, though there were none in the colony ; 
commerce was interrupted ; and the people were unable to supply 
themselves even with tools for agriculture. It was not till 1651, that 
Virginia was subdued. The parliament had sent a fleet to reduce 
Barbadoes, and from this place a small scpiadron was detached un- 
der the command of captain Dennis. The Virginians by the help 
of some Dutch vescels, which were then in the port, made sucji 
resistance, that he was obliged to have recourse to other means 
besides force. He sent word to t^vo of the members of the council, 
that he had on boai^d a valuable cargo belonging to them, which 
they must lose, if the protector's authoi'ity was not immediately 
acknowledged. Such dissensions now took place in the colony, 
that Sir WiUiam and his friends were obliged to submit on the 
terms of a general pardon. He however remained in the country, 
passing his time in retirement at his own plantation, and observing 
■with satisfaction, that the parliament made a moderate use of its 
9 



o6 BEH. 

success, and that none of the Virghiia royalists were persecuted 
for their resistunce. 

After the death of governor Matthews, who was appointed by 
Cromwell, the people apphcd to sir William to resume the gov- 
ernnicnt; but he declined complying with their request unless 
they would submit themselves again to the authority of the king. 
Upon their consenling to do this, he resumed his former authority 
in Jaimary 1659 ; and khig Charles II was proclaimed in Virgin- 
ia before his resloraiion to the throne of England. The death of 
Cromwell, in the mean time, dissipated from the minds of the col- 
onists the fear of the consequences of their boldness. After the 
restoration governor Berkley received a new commission and was 
permitted to go to England to pay his respects to his majesty. Dur- 
ing his absence the deputy governor, whom he had appointed, in 
obedience to ijis orders collected the laws into one body. The 
church of England was made the established religion, parishes 
were regulated, and, besides a mansion house and glebe, a yearly 
stipend in tobacco, to the value of eighty pounds, was settled on 
the minister. In 1662 governor Berkley returned to Virginia, and 
in the following year the laws were enforced against the dissenters 
from the establisliment, by which a number of them were driven 
from the colony. During Bacon's I'ebellion he exhibited a suitable 
regard to the dignity of his station, and a firm resolution to support 
his authority. Pcice was afterwards preserved not so much by 
the removal of the grievances, which awakened discontent, as by 
the arriv il of a regiment from England, which remained a long 
time in the country 

In 1677 sir William was induced, on account of his ill state of 
health, to return to England, leaving colonel JefTereys deputy gov- 
ernor. He died soon after his arrival, and before he had seen the 
king, after an administration of near forty years. He was buried 
at Twickenham July 13, 1677. The assembly of Virginia declar- 
ed, that he had been an excellent and Avell deserving governor. 
The following extract from his answer in June 1671 to inquiries of 
the committee for the colonics is a curious specimen of his loyalty. 
" We have forty eight parishes and our ministers are well paid, 
and by my consent should be better if they would pray oftener and 
preach less ; but, as of all other commodities, so of this, the worst 
arc sent us, and we have few, that we can boast of, since the perse- 
cution in Cron)weil's tyranny drove divers worthy men hither. 
Yet I thank Cod, there arc no free schools, nor printing ; and I 
hope we shall not have these hundred years. For learning has 
bro'i ;ht disobedience, and heresy, and sects into the world, and 
printuighasdiN'ulgcd them and libels against the best government." 

He published the lost )idy, a tragi-comcdy, 1639 ; a discourse 
and view of '^'irginia, 1663. — Keith's /liatoryqf Hrifinia, 144 — 162 ; 
1V'/nn.\ ii. 216 — 224 ; Holinex* annals, i. 373 440 ; C/uilmers, i 
S36, 337 ; Wood's .tt.'i^ncc OxoJiicnscs, ii. 586. 



BER. 67 

BERKLEY(NoRBORNE,baronde Botetourt), one of the last gov- 
ernors of Virginia, while a Britisii colony, obtained the peerage 
of Botetourt in 1764. In July 1768 he WdS appointed governor of 
Virginia in the place of general Amherst, He died at Williams- 
burg October 15, 1770, in the fifty third year of his age. At his 
death the government, in consequence of the resignation of the 
honorable John Blair, devolved upon the honorable William Nelson 
until the appointment in December of lord Dunmore, then gover- 
nor of Nev*r York. 

"Lord Botetourt seems to have been highly and deservedly respect- 
ed in Virginia. His exertions to promote the interests of William 
and Mary college were zettlous and unremitted. He instituted an 
annual contest among the students for two elegant golden medals 
of the value of five guineas ; one for the best latin oration on a giv- 
en subject, and the other for superiomy in mathematical science. 
For a long time he sanctioned by his presence morning and evening 
prayers in the college. No company, nor avocation prevented his 
attendance on this service. He was extremely fond of literary 
characters. No one of this class, who had the least claims to res- 
pect, was ever presented to him without receiving his encourage- 
ment. — Miller's retrospect, n. ^72, ; Boston gazette, JVoveviber 12, 
1770. 

BERNARD (Francis), governor of Massachusetts, arrived in 
the province from New Jersey as successor to governor Pownall, 
August 3, 1760, and continued at the head of the government nine 
years. His administration was during one of the most interesting 
pei'iods in American history. He had governed New Jersey two 
years in a manner very accepttible to that province, and the first 
part of his administration in Massachusetts was very agreeable to 
the generid court. Soon after his arrival Canada was surrendered 
to Amherst. Much harmony prevciiled for two or three years, 
but this prosperous and happy commencement did not continue. 
There had long been two parties in the state, the advocates for the 
crown, and the defenders of the rights of the people. Governor 
Bernard was soon classed with those, who were desirous of 
strengthening the royal authority in America ; the sons of liberty 
therefore stood forth iniiformly in fepposition to him. His indis- 
cretion in appointing Mr. Hutchinson chief justice instead of giving 
that office to colonel Otis of Barnstable, to whom it had been prom- 
ised by Shirley, proved very injurious to his cause. In conse- 
quence of this appointment he lost the influence of colonel Otis, 
and by yielding himself to Mr Hutchinson, he drew upon hirh the 
hostility of James Otis, the son, a man of great talents, who soon 
became the leader on the popuifir side. The laws for the regula- 
tion of trade, and the severities of the officers of customs was the 
first thing, which greatly at'itated the public mind ; and sifterwards 
tlie stamp act increased the energy of resistance to the scheme^ of 



63 BEV. 

tyranny. Governor Bernard possessed no talent For conciliating ; he 
was for accomplibliins^ niinislcriiil purposes by force ; and the spirit 
of freedom j^athcred strent^th from the open manner, in which he 
attempted to crush it. His speech to the general court after the 
repeal of the stamp act was by no means calculated to assuage the 
angry passions, whicii had lat< ly been excited. He was the prin- 
cipal means of brin:;ing the troops to Boston, that he might over- 
awe the people ; and it was owing to him, that they were contin- 
ued in t!ie town. This measure had been proposed by him and 
Mr. Hutchinson long before it was executed. While he professed 
himself a friend to the province, he was endeavoring to undermine 
its constitution, and to obtain an essential alteration in the charter 
by transferring from the general couit to the crown the right of 
electiu,; the council. His conduct, though it drew upon him the 
indignation of the province, was so pleasing to the muiistry, that he 
was created a baronet March 20, 1769. Sir Francis had too little 
command of iiis temper. He could not conceal his resentments, 
and he could not restrain his censures. One of his last public 
measures was to prorogue the general court in July, in conse- 
quence of their refusing to make provision for the support of the 
troops. The general court however, before they were prorog- 
ued, embraced the opportunity of drawing up a petition to liis ma- 
jesty for the removal of the governor. It was found necessary to 
recal him, and he embarked August 1, 1769, leaving Mr. Hutchin- 
son, the lieutenant governor, commander in chief. There were 
few. who lamented his departure. He died in England June 
1779. 

If a man of greater address and wisdom had occupied the place 
of sir Fr tncis, it is vei-y probable our revolution would not have 
taken place so soon. But his arbitrary principles, and his zeal for 
the authority of the crown enkindled tlie spirit of the people, while 
his representations to the ministry excited them to those measures, 
which hastened the separation of the colonies from the mother 
country. 

From the letters of governor Bernard, which were obttined and 
transmitted to this country by some secret friend, it appears that 
he had very little regard to the interests of liberty. His select 
letters on the trade and government of America, written in Boston 
from 1763 to 1768, were published in London in 1774. His other 
letters, written home in confidence, were publislied in 1768 and 
1769.— -Minot's history of Masmchusctts, i. 73 — 222; Gordon., i, 
139,272 — 274 ; Marshall, ii. 96, lit ; Holnus' annals., ii. 283, 
29 1 ; Adams' JY. England, 241. 

BEVERLY (R.), a native of Virginia, published a history of that 
colony at London in 1705 in four parts, embracing the first set- 
tlement of Virginia and the government thereof to the time, when 
It was written ; the natural productions and conveniences of the 



BLA. 69 

country, suited to trade and improvement ; the native Indians, their 
religion, laws, and customs ; and the state of the country as to the 
policy of the goverment and the improvements of the land. An- 
other edition was published with Gribelin's cuts, 8vo, 1722. 
This work in the historical narration is as concise and unsatisfacto- 
ry, as the history of Stith is prolix and tedious, 

BLAIR(James), first president of William and Mary college, 
Virginia, ?.nd a learned divine, was born and educated in Scotland, 
where he obtained a benefice in the episcopal church. On account 
of the unsettled state of religion, which then existed in that kingdom , 
he quitted his preferments ?.nd went into England near the end of 
the reign of Charles II. The bishop of London prevailed on him 
to go to Virginia, as a missionary, about the year 1685 ; and in 
that colony by his exemplary conduct and unwearied labors in the 
work of the ministry he much promoted religion, and gt.ined to 
himself esteem and reputation. In 1689 he was appointed by the 
bishop ecclesiastical commissary, the highest office in the church, 
which could be given him in the province. This appointment 
however did not induce him to relinquish the pastoral office, for it 
was his delight to preach the gospel of salvation. 

Perceiving that the want of schools and seminaries for literary 
and religious instruction would in a great degree defeat the exer- 
tions, which were making, in order to propagate the gospel, he 
formed the design of establishing a college at Williamsburg. 
For this purpose he solicited benefactions in this country, and by 
direction of the assembly made a voyage to England in 1691 to ob- 
tain the patronage of the government. A charter was procured 
in this year with liberal endowments, and he was named in it as the 
first president ; but it does not appear, that he enrered on the du- 
ties of his office before the year 1729, from which period till 1742 he 
discharged them with faithfulness. The college however did not 
flourish very greatly during his presidency, nor for many years af- 
terwards. The wealthy-farmers were in the habit of sending their 
sons to Europe for their education. After a life of near sixty years 
in the ministry, he died in a good old age August 1, 1743, and went 
to enjoy the glory, for which he Avas destined. 

Mr. Blair was for some time president of the council of the col- 
ony, and rector of Williamsburg, He was a faithful laborer in 
the vineyard of his Master, and an ornament to his profession and 
to the several offices, which he sustained. 

He published, our Savior's divine sermon on the mount explain- 
ed and the practice of it recommended in divers sermons and dis- 
courses, 4a'o1. 8vo, London, 1742. This work is spoken of with 
high approbation by Dr. Doddridge, and by Dr. Williams in his 
christian xtreachev.^Introd. to the abovh work ; Miller's rctvosfiecty 
ii. 335. 336, ; iN'eiv and gen. biog. diet. ; Burnetts hist, vion tivics^ 
ii. 119, I20f folio ; Keit/!, 168, 



70 BLA. 

BLAIR (Samuel), a learned minister in Pennsylvania, was a 
native of Ireland. He came to America very early in lite, and was 
one of Mr. Tennent's pupils in his academy at Neshaminy. About 
the year 1745 he himseliopened an academy at Fog's manor, Chester 
county, with particular rctcrence to the study of theology as a science. 
He also took the pastoral charge of the church in this place ; but 
such was his zeal to do good, that he did not confine himself to his 
own society, but often dispensed the precious truths of heaven to 
destitute congregations. He died, it is believed, in 1751, and his 
brother in a few years succeeded him in the care of the church. 
Mr. Blair was one of the niost learned and able, as well as pious, 
excellent, and venerable men of his day. He was a profound di- 
vine and a most solemn and impressive preacher. To his pupils 
he was himself an excellent model of pulpit eloquence. In his 
life he gave them an admirable example of christian meekness, of 
ministerial diligence, of candor, and Catholicism, without a derelic- 
tion of principle. He was eminently serviceable to the part of the 
country, where he lived, not only as a minister of the gospel, but 
as a teacher of human kiwwledgc. From his academy, that school 
of the prophets, as it was frequently called, there issued forth ma- 
ny excellent pupils, who did honor to their instructor both as schol- 
ars and christian ministers. Among the distinguished characters, 
who received their classical and theological education at this sem- 
inary, were the reverend Samuel Davies, reverend Dr. Rodgers of 
New York, and the reverend Messrs. Alexander Cummings, James 
Finley, Hugh Henry, and a number of other respectable clergy- 
man. The former of these pupils, after being informed of his 
sickness, wrote respecting hiin to a friend the following lines. 
O, had you not the mournful news divulg'd. 
My mind had still the pleasing dream indulg'd ; 
Still fancied Blair with hei'.lth and vigor bless'd, 
With some grand purpose lab'ring in his breast, 
In studious thought pursuing truth divine, 
Till the f\dl demonstration round him shine ; 
Or from the sacred desk proclaiming loud 
His master's message to the attentive crowd, 
While heavenly truth with bright conviction glares, 
And coward error shrinks and disappears. 
While quick remorse the hardy siiuier feelsi 
And Calvari/s balm the l)lceding conscience heals. 
It is not known that he published any tiling excepting a narrative 
of a revival of religion in several parts of Pennsylvania, 1744.— 
Miller'fi retrospect^ li. 343 ; Massa. misHVjitary vmi^uzine^'xn. 362 ; 
DavifH life. 

BLAIR (John), an eminent minister in Pennsylvania, was or- 
dained to the pastoral charge of three congrcgi^tions in Cumber- 



BLA. 71 

land county as early as 1742. These were frontier settlements and 
exposed to depredations in the Indian wars, and he was obliged to 
remove. He accepted i< call from Fo;^'s manor in Chester county 
in 1757. This congregation had been favored with the ministry 
of his brother, the reverend Samuel Bkir ; and here he continued 
about nine years, besides discharging the duties of the ministry, 
superintending also a flourishing grammar school, and preparing 
many young men for tiie ministry. When the presidency of New 
Jersey cullege became vacant, he was chosen professor of divinity 
and had for some time the charge of that seminary before the arriv- 
al of Dr. Witherspoon. After this event he settled at Wallkill ia 
the state of New York. Here he laoored a while with his usual 
faithfulness, and finished his earthly course Dec. 8, 1771, aged 
about fifty one years. 

He was a judicious and persuasive preacher, and through his 
exertions sinners were converted and the children of God ed- 
ifibd. Fully convinced of the doctrines of grace, he addressed 
immortal souls with that warmth and power, which left a wimess 
in every bosom. Though he sometimes wrote his sermons in lull, 
yet his common mode of preaching was by short notes, comprising 
the general outlines. His labors were loo abundant to admit of 
more ; and no more was necessary to a mind so richly stored, and 
so constantly impressed with the great truths of religion. 

For his large family he had amasse<.i no fortune, but he left them 
what is. infinitely better, a religious education, a holy example, and 
prayers, which have been remarkably answered. 

His disposition was uncommonly patient, placid, benevolent, dis- 
interested, and cheerful. He was too mild to indulge bitterness or 
severity, and he thought that truth required little else than to be 
fairly stated and properly understood. Those, who could not rel- 
ish the savor of his piety, loved him as an amiable and revered him 
as a great man. Though no bigot, he firmly believed that the 
presbyterian form of government is the most scriptural, and the 
most favorable to religion and happiness. 

In his last sickness he imparted his advice to the congregation, 
and represented to his flxmily the necessity of an interest in Chiist. 
A few nights before he died he said, " directly I am going to glory. 
My master calls me ; I must be gone." He published a few oc- 
easional sermons and tracts in defence of important truths. — Evan- 
gelical intelligencer^ i. 241 — 244. 

BLAIR (John), one of the associate judges of the supreme 
court of the United States, died at Williamsburg in Virginia Au- 
gust 31, 1800, in the sixty ninth year of his age. 

He was a judge of the court of appeals in Virginia in 1787, at 
which time the legislature of that state, finding the judiciary sys- 
tem inconvenient, established circuit courts, the duties of which 
they directed the judges of the court of appeals to perform. 



72 BLA. 

These judges, aii^ou^ whose names are those of Blair, Pendlctou, 
and Wythe, remonstrated and declared tlve act unconstitutional. 
In the same year, 1787, he was a member of the general conven- 
tion, which formed the constitution of the United States. I'o that 
instrument the names of Blair and Madison are afiixed as the 
deputies from Virginia. In September 1789, when the govern- 
ment, which he had assisted in cstablisliing, had commenced its 
operation, he was appointed l)y Washington an associate judge of 
the supreme court, of which John Jay was chief justice. 

Judge Blair was an amiable, accomplished, and truly virtuous 
man. He discharged with ability and integrity the duties of a 
mimbcr of the highest and most important public trusts ; and in 
these as well as in the several relations of private life his conduct 
was so uprigiit and so blameless, that he seldom or never lost a 
friend or tnadi. him an enemy. Even calumny, which assailed 
Washington, slirimk from his friend, the unassuming and pious 
Blair. Through life he in a remarkable manner experienced the 
truth of our Sa^ ior's declaration, " blessed are the meek, for they^ 
shall inherit the earth ;" and at death he illustrated the force of 
the exclamation, " let me die the death of the righteous, and let 
my last end be like \)\.s"—Clayfioole.'.s cluilii advertincr.^ Philadcljikiay 
Sefi. 12, 1800; MarnhaWs Ufc of Washington^ \. 2\6. 

BLAKE (James), a preacher, was a native of Dorchcsterj Mas- 
sachusetts, and was graduated at Harvard college in the year 1769. 
While a member of the university he was distinguished by the 
sweetness of his temper, the purity of his morals, and the cor- 
rectness of his conduct. He conciliated the love of his fellow 
students, and the high iipprnbation of his instructors. Alter pur- 
suing fcr some time his theological studies under the care of the 
reverend Mr. Smith of Weymouth, he began with reluctance at a 
very early period the important work of the ministry. He died 
November 17, 1771, being near twenty one years of age. 

A small volume of his sermons, which was published by Ms 
friends after his death, displays a strength of mind and a knowledge 
of theoretical and practical divinity vei y uncommon in a person so 
young. His sermons also indicate a warmth of pious feeling hon- 
orable to his character. — Preface to ///.s snwnons j Collections /list, 
soc. ix. 189. 

BLAND (Richard), a political writer ofVirginia, was a principal 
member of the house of burgesses at the close of the year 1770. 
He pul)lished in 1766 an inquiry into the rights of tlu; British col- 
onics, in answer to a pamphlet published in London in the pre- 
ceding year, entitled, regulations lately made concerning the 
colonics, and taxes imposed on them considered. This was one 
of the three prod\ictions of Virginia during the controversy with 
Great Britain ; the other writers were Arthur Lee, and Jefferson 
-'—Jrff('rnon\'i votes^ qim'y xxiii. 



BLA. 73 

BLAND (Theodoric), a worthy patriot and statesman, was a 
native of Virginia, and descended from an ancient and respectable 
family in that state. He was bred to the science of physic, but 
upon the commencement of the American war he quitted the 
practice, and took an active part in the cause of his country. He 
soon rose to the rank of colonel, and had the command of a 
regiment of dragoons. While in the army he frequently signalized 
himself by brilliant actions. In 1779 he was appointed to the 
command of the convention troops at Albemarle barracks in Vir- 
ginia, and continued in that situation till some time in 1780, when 
he was elected to a seat in congress. He continued in that body 
three years, the time allowed by the confederation. After the 
expiration of this term he again returned to Virginia, and was 
chosen a member of the state legislature. He opposed the adoption 
of the constitution, believing it to be repugnant to the interests of 
his country, and was in the minority, that voted against its ratifica- 
tion. But when it was at length adopted, he submitted to the 
voice of the majority. He was chosen to represent the district, in 
which he lived, in the first congress under the constitution. He 
died at New York June 1, 1790, while attending a session of con- 
gress, in the forty ninth year of his age. 

When the subject of the assumption of the state debts was 
debated in March 1790, he made a speech in favor of the assump- 
tion, differing in respect to this measure from all his colleagues, 
In his speech he expressed his attachment to the constitution as 
amended, though he wished for more amendments, and declared 
his dread of silent majorities on questions of gi'eat and general 
concern. He was honest, open, candid ; and his conduct was such 
in his intercourse with mankind, as to secure universal respect. 
Though a legislator, he was not destitute of a genius for poetry. 
—-Gazette of the United States for Ajiril \7y and June 5, 1790. 

BLEECKER (Ann Eliza), a lady of some literary celebrity in 
New York, was the daughter of Mr. Brandt Schuyler, and was born in 
October 1752. From early life she Avas passionately fond of books. 
In 1769 she was married to John I. Bleecker Esq, and she lived a 
number of years in great tranquillity and happiness at Tomhanic, a 
beautiful solitary village eighteen miles above Albany. The ap- 
proach of the enemy from Canada in 1777 drove her from her re- 
treat and interrupted her enjoyment ; domestic afflictions cast a 
gloom over her mind ; and po>3sessing an excessive sensibility, 
though not vmacquainted with religious consolations, she was una- 
ble to support the weight of her troubles. After the peace she 
revisited New York in the hope of seeing her old acquaintance and 
reviving the impressions of past days ; but the dispersion of her 
friends, and the desolation, which every where presented itself to 
her sight, overwhelmed her. She returned to her cottage, where 
she died November 23, 1783. 
10 



74 BLI. 

She was the friend of the aged and infirm, and her kindness and 
benevolence to the poor of the village, where she lived, caused her 
death to be deeply lamented. After her death, some of her writ- 
ings were collected and published in 1793 under the title of the 
posthumous works of Ann Eliza Bleecker in prose and verse. To 
this work are prefixed memoirs of her life, written by her daugh- 
ter, Margaretta V. Faugeres. There is also added to the volume a 
collection of Mrs. Faugeres' essays. — Hardy's biogra^thkal diction- 
07 y. 

BLINMAN (Richahd), first minister of New London, Con- 
necticut, was a native of Great Britain, and Avas minister at Cheps- 
tow in Monmouthshire. On his arrival in this country in 1642 it 
was his intention to settle with his friends, who accompanied him, 
at Green's harbor near Plymouth. But some difficulty arising in 
that place, he removed to cape Ann, which the general court in 
the year above mentioned established a plantation and called 
Gloucester. He removed to New Loudon in 1648. Here he 
continued in the ministry about ten years, and was then succeeded 
by Mr. Gershom Bulkley. In 1658 he removed to New Haven, 
and after a short stay in that town returned to England. Having 
lived to a good old age, he happily concluded at the city of Bristol 
a life spent in doing good. 

A short time before his death he published in answer to Mr. 
Danvers a book entitled, an essay tending to issue the controversy 
about infant baptism, 8vo, 1674 — Mather's magnalia, iii. 213; 
.Yo7ico?iformist's memorial, iii. 177 ; Collections hist. soc. ix. 39 ; 
ll77ithro/i's journal, 244 ; Trumbull's Connecticut, i. 293, 310, 
314, 522. 

BLOWERS (Thomas), minister in Beverly, Massachusetts, 
was born at Cambridge August 1 , 1677. His mother was the sister 
of the honorable Andrew Belcher. He was graduated at Harvard 
college in 1695, and was ordained pastor of the first church in 
Beverly October 29, 1701. He died June 17, 1729, in the fifty 
second year of his age. He was a good scholar, and an excellent 
minister ; of sincere and ardent piety ; of great meekness and 
sweetness of temper ; of uncommon stability in his principles and 
steadiness in his conduct. He was a vigilant, prudent pastor, and 
a close, pathetic preacher. He published a sermon on the death 
of reverend Joseph Green of Salem village, \t\S.-^Mw England 
Kvcckly journal June 23, 1729 ; FoxcrofCsfun. sermon. 

BOGARDUS (EvERARDUs), the first minister of the reformed 
Dutch church in New York, came early to this country, though 
the exact time of his arrival is not known. The records of this 
church begin with the year 1639. He was ordained and sent forth, 
it is believed, by the classis of Amsterdam, which had for a num- 
J)er of years the superintendence of the Dutch church in New 
Netherlands, or the province of New York. The tradition is, that 



BOL. 75 

Mr. Bogardus became blind and returned to Holland some time 
before the surrender of the colony to the British in 1664. He 
was succeeded by John ahd Samuel Megapolensis. — Christian's 
magazine J JVeio ForXr, i. 368. 

BOLLAN (William), an agent for the province of Massachu- 
setts in Great Britain, was sent about the year 1746 to solicit a 
reimbursement of the expenses jn the expedition against cape 
Breton in 1745. He was intimately acquainted with the public 
affairs of the province, and his address and assiduity were conspic- 
uous. He remained for many years in this station. In 1762 he 
was dismissed, and Mr. Jasper Mauduitwas appointed in his place. 
The reasons for this dismi-ssion were dissatisfaction with his con- 
duct in making some deductions from the money, which was 
granted in 1759, as a reimburseinent to tl>e province, and in neg- 
lecting to correspond with the general court. The desire of 
avoiding expense by appointing a person resident in England and 
the circunrtstance, that Mr. Bollan was attached to the episcopal 
church might also have conspired to introduce into his place a 
man less .distinguished for talents and legal infoi-mation. Mr. 
Bolian however was some years afterwards made agent of the 
council. He died in England in 1776. 

He pubUshed a number of political tracts, among which are the 
following ; coJoniae Anglicanae illustratae, 1742 ; the ancient right 
of the English nation to the American fishery examined and stated,, 
1764; the mutual interests of Great Britain and the American 
colonies considered, 1765 ; freedom of speech and writing upon 
public affairs considered, 1766 ; the importance of the colonies in 
North America, and the interest of Great Britain with regard to 
them considered, 1766 ; epistle from Timoleon, 1768 ; continued 
corruption of standing armies, 1768 ; the free Briton's memorial, 
in defence of the right of election, 1769 ; a supplemental memo- 
rial, on the origin of parliaments &c. 1 770 ; a petition to the king 
in council January 26, 1774, with illustrations intemled to promote 
the harmony of Great Britain and her colonies. This petition he 
offered as agent for the council of the province of Massachusetts. 
— Hutchinsorfs history of Massachusetts^ ii. 436 ; Mhiot's jsaxitinu- 
Gtion, H. 109, 1:10. 

BOND (Thomas), an eminent physician -of Philadelphia, was 
selected in 1763 or 1764 to give clinical lectures in the .medical 
school of that city on the cases of disease in the Pennsylvania 
hospital. He was at this time an old practitioner. He drew up 
about the year 1750 some useful memoirs, which were published 
in the medical observations and inquiries, vols. i. and ii. London.—- 
Miller's retrospect, i. 312 ; Ramsay's revieiv of medicine, 37. 

BORDLEY (John Beale), a writer on agriculture, died at 
Philadelphia January 26, 1804, in the seventy seventh year of hi^ 
age. In the former part of his life he was an inhabitant of Marj* 



76 BOS. 

land. He was of the profession of the law, but less known at the 
bar, than in the magistracy and on the bench, the duties of which sta- 
tions he discharged with uprightness and ability. He had also, while 
this country was subject to the authority of Great Britain, a seat 
at the executive council of the provhjce of Maryland. But he 
was not alhu'ed by this office from his duty to his country. He 
found oin- revolution necessary to our freedom, and he rejoiced in 
its accomplishment. 

His habitual and most pleasing employment was husbandry, 
which he practised extensively upon his own estate on Wye island 
in the bay of Chesapcak. As he readily tried every suggested 
improvement, and adopted such as were confirmed by his experi- 
ments, and as he added to his example frequent essays upon agri- 
cultural sul)jects, he was greatly instrumental in diffusing the best 
knowledge of the best of all arts. 

He was cheerful in his temper, and was respected and beloved. 
In religion he was of the most liberal or free system within the pale 
of revelation. In his political principles he was attached to that re- 
put)lican form of government, in which the public authority is found- 
ed on the people, but guarded against the sudden fluctuations of their 
will. 

Besides his occasional pieces on agriculture, Mr. Bordley pub- 
lished a work entitled, essays and notes on husbandry and rural af- 
fairs with plates, Philadelphia, 1799. — Gazette of the U. S.for Feb. 
7, 1804. 

BOSTWICK (David), an eminent minister in New York, 
■was of Scotch extraction, and was born about the year 1720. Af- 
ter he began to preach, he was first settled at Jamaica on Long 
Island, where he continued till 1756, when he was translated to the 
presbyterian society of New York by a synodical decree. The 
persons, composing his congregation, were about twelve or four- 
teen hundred. In this charge he continued till November 12, 1763, 
■when he died in the forty fourth year of his age. His remains 
were deposited in the front aisle of his church. 

He was of a mild, catholic disposition, of great piety and zeal, 
and he confined himself entirely to the proper Inisiness of his of- 
fice. He abhorred the frequent mixture of di\ inity and politics, 
and much more the turpitude of making the former subservient to 
the latter. His thoughts were occupied by things, which are 
above, and he wished to withdraw the minds' of his people more 
from the concerns of this world. He was deeply grieved, when 
some of his flock became, not fci-vent christians, but furious politi- 
cians. ■ He preached the gospel, and as his life corresponded with 
his preaching, he was respected by good men of all denominations. 
His doctrines he derived from the scriptures, and he understood 
them in accordance with the public confessions of the reformed 
churches. 



BOS. 77 

lie possessed those gifts, which rendered him popuiar. His dis- 
courses were methodical, souncl,,and pathetic, rich in sentiment, and 
ornamented in diction. With a strong, commanding voice his 
pronunciation was clear, distinct, and deliberate. He preached 
without notes with great ease ar.d fluency ; but he always studied 
his sermons with great care. With a lively imagination and a 
heart deeply afFected by the truths of religion, he was enabled to 
address his hearers with solemnity and energy. Few incn could 
describe the hideous deformity of sin, the misery of man's apostasy 
from God, the wonders of redeeming love, and the glory and riches 
of divine grace in so distinct and affecting a manner. He knew 
the worth of the soul and the deceitfulness of the human heart, and 
he preached with plainness, more intent to impi'ess sinners with 
their guilt and to teach them the truths of God, than to attract their 
attention to himself. Though he was remarkable for his gentle- 
ness and prudence, yet in preaching the gospel he feared no man. 
He knew whose servant he was, and with all boldness and impar- 
tiality he delivered his message, proclaiming the terrors of the di- 
vine law to every transgressor, however elevated, and displaying 
the mild glories of the gospel for the comfort and refreshment of 
every penitent believer. 

A few Tnonths before his death his mind was greatly distressed 
by apprehensions respecting the interests of his f.mily, when he 
should be taken from them. But God was pleased to give him 
such views of his power and goodness, and such cheerful reliance 
upon the wisdom and rectitude of his government, as restored to him 
peace and calmness. He was willing to cast himself and all, that 
was dear to him, upon the providence of his heavenly Fe.thcr. In 
this temper he contir.ued to his last moment, when he placidly re- 
signed his soul into the hands of his Savior. Such is the compo- 
sure and serenity, frequently imparted to christians in the solemn 
hour of dissolution. 

He published a sermon, preached at Philadelphia befcre a synod- 
ical meeting May 25, 1758, entitled, self disclaimed and Christ ex- 
alted. It was reprinted In England in 1 776, and received the warm 
recommendation of Mr. Gilbert Tenncnt. It is a sei'mon for min- 
isters, penetrating into the subtle workings and base motives of th.e 
human heart, and presenting the most serious truths, in a manner very 
perspicuous and afiectionate. He published also an account of the 
life, character, and death of president Davies prefixed to Davies' 
sermon on the death of George 11, 1761. After his decease there 
was published from his miinuscripts a fair and rational vindication 
of tl\e right of infants to the ordinance of baptism, being the sub- 
stance of several discourses from Acts ii. 59. It is an able produc- 
tion.— il^rfrf/e^on's biog. evang. iv. 414— -4 18 ; Aew and gcv. hioff. 
diet. ; Smith'' 8 JVctj Yorky 193 ; Prefarr /•; JJoxf'tfirk'.^ xdndi cation^ 



78 BOU. 

BOUQUET (Henry), a brave officer, was appointed lieutenant 
colonel in the British r.rmy in 1756. In the year 1763 he was 
sent by general Amherst from Canada with military stores and pro- 
visions for the relief of fort Pitt. While on his way he was attack- 
ed by apowcrlui body of Indians on the 5th and 6th of August, but 
by a skilful manoeuvre, supported by the determined bravery of 
his troops, he defeated them, and reached the fort in four days Irom 
the action. In the folloAvin,^ year he was sent from Canada on an 
expedition against the Ohio Indians, and in Octol)er he reduced a 
body of the Shawanese, Delawares,and other Indians to the necessi- 
ty of making terms of peace at TuscaraAvas. He died at Pensacola 
in February 1766, being then a brigadier general. 

Thomas Hutchins published at Philadelphia in 1765 an historical 
account of the expedition against thq Ohio Indians in 1764, with a 
map and plates. — Annual register for 1763, 27 — 31 ; for 1764, 
181 -jfor 1766, 62. 

BOURNE (Richard), a missionary among the Indians at 
Marshpee, was one of the first emigrants from England, who set- 
tled at Sandwich. Being a religious man, he officiated publicly on 
the Lord's day until a minister, Mr. Smith, was settled ; he then 
turned his attention to the Indians at the southward and eastward, 
and resolved to bring them to an acquaintance with the gospel. 
He went to Marshpee, not many miles to the south. The first ac- 
count of him is in 1658, when he was in that town, assisting in the 
settlement of a boundary between the Indians and the proprietors 
of Barnstable. Having obtained a competent knowledge of tlie In- 
dian language he entered on the missionary service with activity 
and ardor. On the 1 7th of August 1670 he was ordained pastor of 
an Indian church at Marshpee, constituted by his own disciples and 
converts , which solemnity was performed by the famous Eliot and 
Cotton. He died at Sandwich about the year 1 685, leaving no suc- 
cessor in the ministry but an Indian, named Simon Popmonet. 

Mr. Bourne is deserving of lionorable remembrance not only for 
his zealous exertions to make known to the Indians the glad tidings of 
salvation ; but for his regard to their temporal interests. He wisely 
considered, that it would be in vain to attempt to propagate christian 
knowledge among them, unless they had a territory, where they 
might remain in peace, and have a fixed habitation. He therefore, 
at his own expense, not long after the year 1660, obtained a deed 
of Marshpee from Quachatisset and others to the south sea Indians, 
as his people were called. This territory, in the opinion of Mr. 
Hawley, was perfectly adapted for an Indian town ; being situated 
on the sound, in sight of Martha's Vineyard, cut into necks pf land, 
and well watered. 

After the death of Mr. Bourne, his son, Shearjashub Bourne Eeq. 
succeeded l-.im in the Marshpee inheritance, where he lived till his 
death about 1 7~0. He procured from the court at Plymouth a ratifica- 



BOU. 79 

tion of the Indian deeds, so that no parcel of the lands could be bov\ght 
by any white person or persons without the consent of all the said 
Indians, not even with the consent of the general court. Thus did 
the son promote the designs of the father, Avatching over the inter- 
ests of the aborigines. 

A letter of Mr. Bourne, giving an account of the Indians in Plym- 
outh county and upon the cape is preserved in Gookin.— 
Mather's 7nagnalia^ iii, 199 ; Collections hist, soc. i. 172, 196 — 199, 
218 ; iii. 188 — 190; viii. 170 ; Gookin ; Morto7i, 192 ; Hutchinson^ 
i. 166. 

BOURNE (Joseph), missionary to the Indians, was the son of 
Ezra Bourne Esq. of Mi.rshpee, who was the son of Shearjashub 
Bourne Esq, and who succeeded his father in the superintendence 
of the Indians. Ezra Bourne was chief justice of the court of com- 
mon pleas, and died in September 1764 in the eighty eighth year 
of his age. 

His son, Joseph Bourne, was graduated at Harvard college in 
1722 and wus ordained at Marshpee as successor to Simon Popmo- 
net November 26, 1729. He resigned his mission in 1742, com- 
plaining much of the ill treatment, which the Indians received, and 
of the neglect of the commissioners with regard to his support. 
He was succeeded by an Indian, named Solomon Briant ; but he 
still took an interest in the cause, in which he was once particubu'ly 
engaged, and much encouraged and assisted the late missionary, 
Mr. Hawley. Mr, Bourne died in 1767.— -Collections hist. soc. iii. 
190 — 191. 

BOURS (Peter), episcopal minister in Marblehead, was a na- 
tive of Newport, ajid was graduated at Harvard college in 1747. 
Alter his settlement at Marblehead, he discharged with faithfulness 
the duties of his office nine years, enforcing the doctrines of the 
gospel with fervency, and illustrating the truth of what he taught 
by his life. He died February 24, 1762, aged thirty six years. 
Plis dying words were " O Lamb of God, receive my spirit." — 
IVhitivelPs sermon on the death of Barnard. 

BOWDOIN (James, ll. d.), governor of Massachusetts, and 
a philosopher and statesman, was born in Boston August 18, 1727, 
and was the son of William Bowdoin, an eminent merchant. His 
father was a native of France, and after the revocation of the edict 
of Nantes he fled among the persecuted protestants of that country 
first to Ireland, and afterwards to New England in 1 688. He land- 
ed at Falmouth, now Portland, in Casco bay, and after continuing 
there about two years removed to Boston in 1690. It is remarka- 
ble, that the day after his removal all the inhabitants of Casco bay 
were cut off by the Indians. He was a stranger, and his property 
was small ; but by his enterprise and persevering industry he at 
length acquired an immense estate. 



so BOW. 

Mr. Bowdoin was graduated at Hiirvard college in 1745. Dur- 
ing his rciiidence at the university he was distinguished by his ge- 
nius and unwearied application to his studies, while his modesty, po- 
liteness, and ijenevolence gave his friends assurance, that his talents 
would not be prostituted, nor his future eminence employed for the 
promotion of unv.orihy ends. When he arrived at the age of 
twenty one yours, he came in possession of an ample fortune, left 
Iiira by his falhrr, who died September 4, 1747. He was now in 
a situation llic most threatening to his literary and moral improve- 
ment, for one great motive, which impels men to exertion, could 
have no influence upon him, and his great wealth put it completely 
in his power to gratify the giddy desires of yotith. But his life 
had hitherto been regular, and he now with the maturity of wisdom 
adopted a system, which was most rational, pleasing, and useful. 
lie determined to combine with the enjoyments of domestic and 
liociul life a course of study, which should enlarge and perlect the 
powers of his mind. At the age of twenty two years he married a 
daughter of John Erving Esq, and commenced a system of literary 
and scientific research, to which he adhered through life. 

In the year 1753 the citizens of Boston elected him one of their 
representatives in the general court, where his learning and elo- 
(juencc soon rendered him conspicuous. He continued in this sta- 
tion until 1756, when he was chosen into the council, in which body 
he was long known and respected. With uniform ability and pa- 
ti'iotism he advocated the cause of his country. In the disputes, 
which laid the foundation of the American revolution, his writings 
and exertions were eminently useful. Governors Bernard and 
Hutchinson were constrained to confess, in their confidential letters 
to the British ministry, the weight of his opposition to their meas- 
ures. Ill 1769 Bernard negatived him, when he was chosen a 
member of the council, in consequence of which the inhabitants of 
Boston ag.dn elected him their representative in 1770. Hutchin- 
son, who in this year succeeded to the governor's chair, permitted 
him to take a seat at the council board, because, said he in his 
official letters, " his opposition to our measin-es will be less injuri- 
ous in the council, than in the house of representatives." In the 
year 1775, a year most critical and important to America, he was 
chosen president of the council of Massachusetts, ajid he continued 
in that oflice the greater part of the time till the adoption of the 
state constiuition in 1780. He was president of the convention, 
•yiiic'i formed it ; and some of its important articles are the result 
of his knowledge of government. 

In the year 17^5, after the resignation of Hancock, he was chos- 
en governor of Massachusetts, and he was reelected the following 
year. In this office his wisdom, firmness, and inflexible integrity 
Tcrc con-,i)icu()US. He was placed at the head of the government 
(t the most unr'irl.inate neriod after the revolution. The suddenin- 



BOW. 81 

flux of foreign luxuries had exhausted the country of its specie, while 
the heavy taxes of the war yet burthened the people. This stale of 
suffering awakened discontent, and the spirit ot disorder was cher- 
ished by unlicensed conventions, who arranged themselves against 
the legislature. One great subject of complaint was the adminis- 
tration of justice. Against lawyers and courts the strongest re- 
sentments were manifested. In many instances the judges Avere 
restrained by mobs from proceeding in the execution of their duty. 
As the insurgents became more audacious from the lenient meas- 
ures of the government and were organizing themselves for the 
subversion of the constitution, it became necessary to suppress by 
force the spirit of insurrection. Governor Bowdoin accordingly 
ordered into service upwards of four thousand of the militia, who 
were placed under the command of the veteran general Lincoln. 
As the public treasury did not afford the means of putting the 
troops in motion, a number of the citizens of Boston with the gov- 
ernor at the head of the list subscribed in a few hours a sufficient 
sum to carry on the proposed expedition. This decisive step res- 
cued the government from the contempt, into which it was sink- 
ing, and was the means of saving the commonwealth. The dan- 
gerous insurrection of Shays was thus completely quelled. 

In the year 1787 governor Bowdoin was succeeded by Hancock, 
in consequence probably of the exertions of the discontented, who 
might hope for greater clemency from another chief magistrate. 
He died in Boston, after a distressing sickness of three naonths, 
November 6, 1790, in the sixty fourth year of his age. 

Governor Bowdoin was a learned man, and a constant and gen- 
erous friend of literature. He subscribed liberally for the restor- 
ation of the library of Harvard college in the year 1764, when it 
was consumed by fire. He was chosen a fellow of the corporation 
in the year 1779, but the pressure of more important duties induc- 
ed him to resign this office in 1784. He ever felt however an af- 
fectionate regard for the interests of the college, and bequeathed it 
four hundred pounds, the interest of which was to be applied to the 
distribution of premiums among the students for the encourage- 
ment of useful and polite literature. The American academy of 
arts and sciences, incorporated at Boston May 4, 1780, at a time 
when our country was in the deepest distress, was formed vmder 
his influence, and was an object of his constant attention. He was 
chosen its first president, and he continued in that office till his 
death. He was esteemed by its members as the pride and orna- 
ment of their institution. To this body he bequeathed one hun- 
dred pounds and his valuable library, consisting of upwards of twelve 
hundred volumes upon every branch of science and in almost every* 
language. He was also one of the founders and the president of 
the Massachusetts bank, and of the humane society of Massachu- 
setts. The literary character of Governor Bowdoin gained him 
11 



82 BOY. 

those honors, which are usually conferred on men distinguished for 
their literary attainments. He was constituted doctor of laws by 
the university of Edinburgh, and was elected a member of the roy- 
al societies of London and Dublin. 

He was deeply convinced of the truth and excellence of Chris- 
tianity, and it had a constant effect upon his life. He was for 
more than thirty years an exemplary member of the church in 
Brattle street, to the poor of which congregation he bequeathed a 
Iiundred pounds. His charities were abundant. He respected 
ihe injunctions of the gospel of Jesus Christ, which he professed. 
He knew the pleasures and advantages of family devotion, and he 
conscientiously observed the christian sabbath, presenting himself 
habitually in the holy temple, that he might be instructed in relig- 
ious duty, and might unite with the worshippers of God. In his 
dying addresses to his family and servants he recommended the 
christian religion to them as of transcendent importance, and as- 
sured them, that it was the only foundation of peace and happiness 
in life and death. As the hour of his departure approached, he 
expressed his satisfaction in the thought of going to the full enjoy- 
ment of God and his Redeemer. 

Governor Bowdoin published a philosophical discourse, publicly 
addressed tc the American academy of arts and sciences in Boston 
November 8, 1780, when he was inducted into the office of presi- 
dent. This is prefixed to the first volume of the memoirs of the 
academy. In this work he also published several other produc- 
tions, which manifest no common taste and talents in astronomical 
inquiries. The following are the titles of them ; observations up- 
on an hypothesis for solving the phenomena of light, with inciden- 
tal observations tending to shew the hetcrogeneousness of light, 
and of the electric fiuid, by their union with each other ; observa- 
tions on light and the waste of matter in the sun and fixed stars 
occasioned by the constant efflux of light from them ; observations 
tending to prove by phenomena and scripture the existence of an 
orb, which surrounds the whole material system, and which may 
be necessary to preserve it from the ruin, to which, without such a 
counterbalance, it seems liable by that universal principle in matter, 
gravitation. He supposes, that the blue expanse of the sky is a 
real concave body encompassing all visible nature, that the milky 
way and the lucid spots in the heavens arc gaps in this orb, through 
which the light of exterior orbs reaches us, and that thus an inti- 
mation may be given of orbs on orbs and systems on systems innu- 
merable and inconceivably grand. — Thacher*s funeral sermon ; 
Loivell*8 eulogy ; Massa. inagazine^ iii. .5—8, 304, 305, 372 ; Uni- 
versal asylum^ \. 7 o — 76; Milter^a retrosfiect, ii. Hardie ; Minot's 
hint, insurrection ; Marshall^ v. 121. 

BOYD (William), minister of Lamington in New Jersey, was 
descended from Scottish ancestors, who emigrated to Pennsylvania. 



He was born in Franklin county, 1758. At the age of fifteen he 
was deprived of his father, but about the same time it pleased the 
Father of mercies to express to him his compassion in turning him 
from darkness to light. His coUegial education was completed at 
Princeton in 1778 under the presidency of Dr. Witherspoon. Af- 
ter pursuing the study of theology under the care of Dr. Allison 
of Baltimore, he commenced preaching the gospel. Such was his 
popularity, that invitations to settle crowded upon him. His tal- 
ents would have procured him a conspicuous station, but destitute 
of ambition he was afraid of himself. It was his supreme desire 
to live a life of piety, and to preach in the apostolic manner ; and 
he was apprehensive, that in a city he should be infected by the 
corruption of those around him. He therefore preferred a retir- 
ed situation, and accepted the call of Lamington. Here he con- 
tinued till his death. May 15, 1808. His disease was of the con- 
sumptive kind. Being asked if he was willing to leave the world, 
he replied, that he had been searching into the evidence of his be- 
ing in a state of grace, and that he was satisfied, that he had been 
renewed by the Spirit of God, and was therefore willing to submit to 
him, knowing that his own time and way are best. A lively faith in 
the Redeemer gave him hope and triumph. 

Mr. Boyd was a man of unfeigned humility, amiable in the va- 
rious relations of life, and remarkable for prudence and moderation 
in all his deportment. He was a preacher of peculiar excellence. 
Deeply penetrated himself with a sense of the total depravity of 
the human heart and of the inability of man to perform any thing 
acceptable to God Avithout the influence of the Holy Spirit, he en- 
deavored to impress these truths on others. He dwelt upon the 
necessity of a divine atonement, and of faith in the Redeemer in 
order to justification, upon the riches of divine grace and the en- 
couragements of the gospel to the humble and contrite, upon the 
dangers of self deception and the false refuges of the wicked. 
He was remarkable for a natural facility and perspicuity of expres- 
sion. For a few years he wrote his sermons and committed them 
to memory, but for the remainder of his life he depended, after 
having digested his subject, upon the vigor of his powers. A pen- 
etrating eye, natural gestures, a sweet and commanding voice, and 
an irreproachable character gave weight and authority to his words. 
But his labors, like those of many other good men, were attended 
with only a gradual increase of the church, committed to his care. 

He was formed no less for society, than for the pulpit, having a 
friendly disposition, being animated in conversation, accommo- 
dating himself to the tempers of others, and mingling condescen- 
sion with dignity. — Evang. intelligencer, May, 1808. 

BOYLSTON (Zabdiel, f. r. s.), an eminent physician, who 
first introduced the inoculation of the small pox in America, was 
bom at Brookline, Massachusetts, in the year 1680. After a good 



84 BOY. 

private education, lie studied physic under the care of Dr. Cutler, 
an eminent physician and surgeon of IJoston, and in a few years 
arrived at great distinction in his profession, and accumulated a 
handsome fortune. He was remarkable for his skill, his humanity, 
iind his close attention to his patients. 

In the year 172 1 the small pox prevailed in Boston, and while it 
was fatal, like the plague, it carried with it the utmost terror. 
This calamity had not visited the town since the year 1702, in 
which year as well as in the year 1692 it had proved destructive to 
the lives of many, though it was much less mortal, than when it 
appeared in the year 1678. On its reappearance, the reverend 
Dr. Cotton Mather, who had read in a volume of the philosophical 
transactions,put into his hands by Dr.Douglass, two communications 
from the east, the one from Timonius at Constantinople and the 
other from Pylarinus, the Venetian consul at Smyrna, giving an 
account of the practice of inoculation for the small pox, conceived 
the idea of introducing this practice in Boston. He accordingly, 
on the sixth of June, addressed a letter to the physicians of Boston, 
enclosing an abridgment of the communications in the philosoph- 
ical transactions, and requesting them to meet and take the subject 
into consideration. As this request was treated with neglect, he 
•wrote to Dr. Boylston separately on the twenty fourth of June, and 
sent him all the information, which he had collected, in the hope 
that he would be persuaded to embrace a new and favorable means 
for the preservation of human life. Dr. Boylston happily was a 
man of benevolence and courage. When there was before him a 
promising opportunity for diminishing the evils of human life, he 
was not afraid to struggle with prejudice, nor imwilling to encoun- 
ter abuse. The practice would be entirely new in America, and it 
was not known, that it had been introduced into Europe. Yet he 
determined to venture upon it. He firstinoculated, June the twenty- 
sixth, his son Thomas of the age of six years and two of his ser- 
vants. Encouraged by the success of this experiment he began to 
enlarge his practice. The other physicians gave their unanimous 
opinion against inoculation, as it would infuse a malignity into the 
blood, and the selectmen of Boston forbid it in July. But these 
discouragements did not quench the zeal and benevolence, which 
were now excited. They might have done it, and prejudice might 
have triumphed over an enlightened practice, if the clergy had not 
stepped in to aid the project. Six venerable ministers of Boston 
gave their whole influence in its favor, and the weight of their char- 
acter, the confidence, which was reposed in their wisdom, and the 
deep reverence, inspired by their piety, were hardly sufficient to 
preserve the growing light from extinction. They were abused, 
but they triumphed. During the year 172 1 and the beginning of 
1722 Dr. Boylston inoculated two huiidred and forty seven persons in 
Boston and the neighboring towns. Thirty nine were inoculated by 



BOY. 85 

other physicians, making in the whole two hundred and eighty six^ 
of whom only six died. During the same period, of five thousand 
seven hundred and fifty nine persons, who had the small pox in the 
natural way, eight hundred and forty four died. The utility of the 
practice was now established beyond dispute, and its success en- 
couraged its more general introduction in England, in which coun- 
try it had been tried upon but a few persons, most or all of whom 
were convicts. In the prosecution of his good work Dr. Boylston 
was obliged to meet not only the most virulent, but the most dan- 
gerous opposition. Dr. Douglass, a Scotchman, violent in his prej- 
udices, and bitter and outrageous in his conduct, bent his whole 
force to annihilate the practice, Avhich had been introdviced. One 
argument, which he brought against it, was that it was a crime, 
which came under the description of poisoning and spreading in- 
fection, which were made penal by the laws of England. In the 
pamphlets, which were published in 1721 and 1722, various kinds 
of reasoning are found. The following extracts will give some 
idea of the spirit of them. " To spread abroad a mortal contagion, 
what is it but to cast abroad arrows and death ? If a man should 
wilfully throw a bomb into a town, burn a house, or kill a man, 
ought he not to die ? — I do not see how we can be excused from 
great impiety herein, when ministers and people, with loud and 
strong cries, made supplications to almighty God to avert the judg- 
ment of the small pox, and at the same time some have heeu carry- 
ing about instruments of inoculation and bottles of the poisonous 
humor to infect all, who were willing to submit to it, whereby we 
might as naturally expect the infection to spread, as a man to 
break his bones by casting himself headlong from the highest pinna- 
cle. Can any man infect a family in the town in the morning, and 
pray to God in the evening, that the distemper may not spread V* 
It was contended, that, as the small pox v/as a judgment from God 
for the sins of the people, to endeavor to avert the stroke would 
but provoke him the more ; that inoculation was encroachment up- 
on the prerogatives of Jehovah, whose right it was to wound and 
to smite ; and that as there was an appointed time to man upon 
earth, it would be useless to attempt to stay the approach of 
death. 

The people became so exasperated, that it was unsafe for Dr. 
Boylston to travel in the evening. But his cool and determined 
spirit, supported by his trust in God, enabled him to persevere. 
As he believed himself to be in the way of his duty, he did not 
tremble at the apprehension of the evils, which might come upon 
him. When his family were alarmed for his safety, he expressed 
to them his resignation to the will of heaven. To such a height 
was the popular fury raised, that a lighted granado was in the night 
thrown into the chamber of Mr, Walter, minister of Roxbury, who 
had been privately inoculated in the house of his uncle, Dr. Math- 



86 BOY. 

cr of Boston. The shell however was not filled with powilci-, but 
tvith a mixture of brimstone with bilununous matter. 

Had Dr. Boylston gone at this time to England, he might have 
accumulated an immense fortune by his skill in treating the small 
pox. He did not however visit that country till 1725, when inocu- 
lation was common. He was then received with the most flatter- 
ing attention. He was chosen a member of the royal society, and 
was admitted to the intimacy and friendship of some of the most 
distinguished characters of the natien. Of these he used to men- 
tion with great respect and affection the reverend Dr. Watts, with 
whom he corresponded. After his return to his native country he 
continued at the head of his profession, and engaged in a number 
of literary pursuits. His communications to the royal society 
were ingenious and useful. 

After a long period of eminence and skill in his profession, his 
age and infirmity induced him to retire to his patrimonial estate iu 
Brookline, where he passed the remainder of his days. He had 
the pleasure of seeing inoculation universally practised, and of 
knowing, that he was himself considered as one of the benefactors 
of mankind. He died March 1, 1766, in the eighty seventh year of 
his age. The inscription upon his tomb represents, that through a 
life of extensive beneficence he was always faithful to his word, 
just in his dealings, affable in his manners, and that after a long 
sickness, in which he was exemplary for his patience and resigna- 
tion to his Maker, he quitted this mortal life m a just expectation 
of a blessed immortality. 

Dr. Boylston published, some account of what is said of inoculat- 
ing or transplanting the small pox by the learned Dr. Emanuel 
Timonius and Jacobus Pylarinus, 1721 ; an historical account of 
the small pox inoculated in New England, with some account of 
the nature of the infection, and some shoi t directions to the inexpe- 
rienced, dedicated to the princess of Wales, London, 1726; and 
several communications in the philosophical transactions. — J^lasiM- 
chusetts magazine^ December 1789,776 — 779 ; Piercers century dis- 
course ; Holmes^ annals^ ii. 103 ; Boylston' s hist, account ; Hutch- 
insoTty ii. 273 — 276 ; Adams' J^. England,, 195. 

BOYLSTON (Nicholas), a benefactor of Harvard college, 
died in Boston August 18, 1771, in the fifty sixth year of his age. 
His portrait, whicli is an admirable painting, is in the philosophy 
chamber of the college. He had been an eminent merchant, and 
was about to retire from business to enjov the fruit of his industry, 
when he was removed from the earth. He was honest in his deal- 
ings, and remarkal)le for his sincerity, having a peculiar abhorrence 
of all dissimulation. He bequeathed to the university at Cambridge 
fifteen hundred pouiids for laying tiic foundation of a professorship 
of rhetoric and oratory. This sum was paid into the college treas- 
ury by his executors February 1 1 ,1772 ; and the fund became accu- 



BOY. 87 

inulaled to twenty three thousand and two hundred dollars before 
any appropriation was made. The honorable John Quincy Adams, 
son of president Adams, and then a senator of the United States, 
was installed the first professor June 12, 1806, with the title of 
*' the Boylston professor of rhetoric and oratory in Harvard col- 
lege." — Holmes' annals ^ n. Z0\. 

BOYLSTON (John), a merchant of Boston, was the second 
son of Dr. Zabdiel Boylston He resided for the last years of his 
life in England, and died at Bath January 17", 1795, aged eighty 
years. He left a large estate, bequeathing much to his native town. 

BRACKETT (Joshua, m. d.), president of the New Hamp- 
shire medical society, was born in Greenland, New Hampshire, 
in May 1733, and was graduated at Harvard college in 1752. He 
afterwards pursued the study of theology, and commenced a preach- 
er ; but a regard to his health induced him soon to engage in the 
study of physic. After a life of patriotism and usefulness he died 
at Portsmouth July 17, 1802, in the sixty ninth year of his age, in 
full belief of the restoration of all things. 

He was much distinguished for his activity and zeal in the cause 
of American independence. He was one of the committee of safe- 
ty during the revolutionary war. A friend to medical science, he 
exerted himself to establish the medical society in New Hampshire, 
and gave about one hundred and fifty volumes as the foundation of 
its libi'ary. Pie made minutes of important cases occurring in his 
practice. He was a man of integrity, mildness, and benevolence. 
Such was his regard to the poor, that he never made a charge, 
where he supposed the payment would occasion the smallest incon- 
venience. His heart could sympathise in the distresses of others. 
—.Medical repository .^ second hexade^ i. 2 1 1 — 2 14. 

BRADBURY (Theophilus), a judge of the superior court of 
Massachusetts, was graduated at Harvard college in 1757. His 
early days were devoted with diligence and success to the profes- 
sion of the law. He resigned the emoluments, arising from his 
practice, for the appointment of a judge, in which station he was 
intelligent and faithful in executing the laws. A sudden attack of 
disease at length rendered him incapable of discharging the duties 
of his office. He died September 6, 1803, aged sixty three years. 
'^Columbian eentinel^ September 1 I, 1803. 

BRADDOCK (Edward), major general and commander in 
chief of the British forces in America, arrived in Virginia with two 
regiments from Ireland in February 1755. The plan of military ope- 
rations having been settled in April by a convention of the several 
governors at Alexandria, he undertook to conduct in person the ex- 
pedition against fort du Quesne. Meeting with much delay from 
the necessity of opening roads, the general determined to advance 
with rapidity at the head of twelve hundred men, leaving the heavy 
baggage to the care of colonel Dunbar, who was to follow by slow 



88 BRA. 

and easy marches. He reached the Monongahela on the eighth ol 
July. The succeeding day he expected to invest the fort. He 
accordingly made his dispositions in the morning. He was advised 
to advance the provincial companies in the front for the purpose of 
scouring the woods, and discovering any ambuscade, which might 
be lormed lor him. But he held both his enemy and the provincials 
in too much contempt to follow this salutary counsel. Three hun- 
dred British regulars composed his van, which was suddenly 
attacked, at the distance of about seven miles from the fort, by an 
invisible enemy, concealed by the high grass. The whole army 
was soon thrown into confusion. The brave general exerted his 
utmost powers to form his broken troops under a galling fire upon 
the very ground, where they were first attacked ; but his efforts 
were fruitless. With such an enemy, in such a situation, it was 
necessary to have advanced or retreated. All his officers on horse- 
back, excepting his aid, the late general Washington, were killed, 
and after losing three horses he received a mortal wound. The de- 
feated army fled precipitately to the camp of Dunbar, near forty 
miles distant, where Braddock, who was brought off the ground in 
a tumbril, expired of his wounds. Sixty four out of eighty five 
officers, and about half the privates were killed and woxmded, mak- 
ing in the whole a loss of about seven hundred men. This disas- 
ter resulted from the contempt of good advice. — Marshall, i. 384, 
390 — 393 ; ii. 14—19 ; Holmes' annals, xx. 207 ; Collections hist, 
soc. vii. 89 — 94 ; Wynne, ii. 37 — 42. 

BRADFORD (William), second governor of Plymouth colo- 
ny, and one of the first settlers of New England, was born at An- 
sterfield, a village in the north of England, in 1588. He was 
educated in the practice of agriculture. His paternal inheritance 
was considerable ; but he had no better education, than such as 
usually falls to the share of the children of husbandmen. At the 
age of twelve years his mind was seriously impressed by divine 
truth in reading the scriptures, and an illness of long continuance 
conspired to preserve him from the follies of youth. His good 
impressions were confirmed by attending upon the ministry of 
Mr. Richard Clifton. As he advanced in years he was stigma- 
tized as a separatist ; but such was his firmness, that he cheerful- 
ly bore the frowns of his relatives and the scoffs of his neighbors, 
and connected himself with the church, over which Mr. Clifton and 
Mr. Rolnnson presided, fearless of the persecution, which he fore- 
saw this act would draw upon him. Believing that many practices 
of the established church of England were repugnant to the direc- 
tions of the word of God, he was fully resolved to prefer the purity 
of christian worship to any temporal advantages, which might 
arise from bending his conscience to the opinions of others. 

In the autumn of 1607, when he was eighteen years of age, he 
was one of the company of dissenters, who made an attempt to g« 



BRA. 89 

over to Holland, where a commerci il spirit had established a free 
toleratioij of reiigious opinions ; but the master of the vessel be- 
trayed them, and they were thrown into prison at Boston in Lin- 
colnshire. In the spring of the next year he made another unsuc- 
cessful attempt. At length he effected his favorite object and 
joined his brethren at Amsterdam. Here he put himself an ap- 
prentice to a French protestant, who taUght him the art of silk dy- 
ing. When he reached the age of twenty one years, and came in 
possession of his estate in England, he converted it into money, 
and engaged in commerce, in whxh he was not successful. 

Mr. Bradford, after a residence of about ten years in Holland, 
engaged with zeal in the plan of removal to America, which was 
formed by the English church at Leyden under the care of Mr. 
Robinson. He accordingly embarked for England July 22, 1620, 
and on the sixth of September set sail from Plymouth with the 
first company. While the ship in November lay in the harbor of 
cape Cod, he was one of the foremost in the several hazardous at- 
tempts to find a proper place for the seat of the colony. Before a 
suitable spot was agreed upon, his wife fell into the sea, and was 
drowned. Soon after the death of governor Can'er at Plymouth, 
which took place April 5, 1621, Mr. Bradford was elected gover- 
nor in his place. He was at this time in the tliirty third year of 
his age, and was most conspicuous for wisdom, fortitude, piety, and 
benevolence. The people appointed Isaac Allerton his assistant, 
not because they could repose less confidence in him, than in Carver, 
who had been alone in the command, but chiefly on account of his 
precarious health. One of the first acts of his administration was 
to send an embassy to Masassoit for the purpose of confirming the 
league with the Indian sachem, of procuring seed com for the next 
planting season, and of exploring the country. It was well for the 
colony, that the friendship of Masassoit was thus secured, for his 
influence was extensive. In consequence of his regard for the 
new settlers nine sachems in September went to Plymouth, and 
acknowledged themselves loyal subjects of king James. In the 
same month a party was sent out to explore the bay of Massachu- 
setts. They landed under a cliff, supposed to be Copp's hill in 
Boston, where they were received with kindness by Obbatine- 
wa, who gave them a promise of his assistance against the squaw 
sachem. On their return they carried with them so good a report 
of the country, that the people lamented that they had established 
themselves at Plymouth ; but it was not now in their power to re- 
move. 

In the beginning of 1622 the colony began to experience a dis- 
tressing famine, occasioned by the arrival of new settlers, who 
came unfurnished with provisions. In the height of their distress 
a threatening message was received from Canonicus, sachem of 
Xarraganset, expressed by the pi'esent of a bundle of arrows, bound 
12 



90 BIIjV. 

with the skin ol' a serpent. The goverHor sent back the skin filled 
with powder and ball. This prompt andiingcnious reply terminated 
the correspondence. The Narragansets were so terrified, that they 
even returned the serpent's skin without inspecting its contents. 
It was however judged necessary to fortify the town ; and this work 
Avas performed by the people, while they were suifering the ex- 
tremity of famine. For some time they subsisted entirely upon 
fish. In this exigency governor Bradford found the advantage of 
his friendly intercourse with the Indians. He made several excur- 
sions among them, and procured corn and beans, making a fair 
purchase by means of goods, which were brought by two ships in 
August, and received by the planters in exchange for beaver. The 
whole quantity of corn and beans, thus purchased, amounted to 
twenty eight hogsheads. But still more important benefits soon re- 
sulted from the disposition of governor Bradford to preserve the 
friendship of the natives. During the illness of Masassoit in the 
spring of 1623, Mr. Winslow was sent to him with cordials, which 
contributed to his recovery. In return for this benevolent atten- 
tion the grateful sachem disclosed a dangerous conspiracy, then in 
agitation among the Indians, for the purpose of totally extirpating 
the English. This plot did not originate in savage malignity, but 
was occasioned by the injustice and indiscretion of some settlers in 
the bay of Massachusetts. As the most effectual means of sup- 
pressing the conspiracy, Masassoit advised, that the chief conspira* 
tors, whom he named, should be seized and put to death. This 
melancholy work was accordingly performed by captain Standish, 
and the colony was relieved from apprehension. When the re- 
port of this transaction was carried to Holland, Mr. Robinson in 
bis next letter to the governor expressed his deep concem at the 
event. •< O that you had converted some," said he, " before you 
had killed any ! " 

The scarcity, which had been experienced by the planters, was 
in part owing to the impolicy of laboring in common and putting 
the fruit of their labor into the public store. To stimulate industry 
by the prospect of individual acquisition, and thus to promote the 
general good by removing the restraints upon selfishness it was 
agreed in the spring of 1623, that every family should plant for 
themselves on such ground, as should be assigned them by lot. 
After this agreement the governor was not again obliged to traffic 
with the Indians in order to procure the means of subsistence for 
the colony. 

The original government of Plymouth was founded entirely up- 
on mutual compact, entered into by the planters, before they land- 
ed, and was intended to continue no longer, than till they could ob- 
tain legal authority from their sovereign. The first patent was 
obtained for the colony in the name of John Peirce ; but another 
patent of larger extent was obtained of the council for New Eng- 



BRA. ai 

land January 13, 1630, in the name of William Bradford, his heirs, 
associates, and assigns, which confirmed the title of the colonists to 
a large tract of land, and gave them power to make ail laws, not 
repugnant to the laws of England. In the year 1640, Avhen the 
number of people was increased, and new townships were erected, 
the general court requested governor Bradford to surrender the pa- 
tent into their hands. With this request he cheerfully complied, 
reserving for himself no more than his propoi'tion, as settled by u 
previous agreement. After this surrender the patent was imme- 
diately delivered again into his custody. For several of the first 
years after the first settlement of Plymouth the legislative, execu- 
tive, and judicial business was performed by the whole body of 
freemen in assembly. In 1634 the governor and assistants, the 
number of whom at the request of Mr. Bradford had been increased 
to five in 1624 and to seven in 1633, were constituted a judicial 
court, and afterwards the supreme judicature. Petty offences were 
tried by the select men of each town with liberty of appeal to the 
next court of assistants. The first assembly of representatives 
was held in 1639, when two deputies were sent from each town, 
excepting Plymouth, which sent four. In 1649 this inequality was 
done away-. 

Such was the reputation of Mr. Bradford, acquired by liis piety, 
wisdom, and integrity, that he was annually chosen governor, as 
long as he lived, excepting in the years 1633, 1636, and 1644, 
when Mr. Winslow was appointed, and the years 1634 and 1638, 
when Mr. Prince was elected chief magistrate. At these times it 
was by his own request, that the people did not reelect him. Gov- 
ernor Winthrop mentions the election of Mr. Winslow in 1633, 
and adds, " Mr. Bradford having been governor about ten years, 
and now by im/tortunity got off." What a lesson for the ambitious, 
who bend their whole influence to gain and secure the high offices 
of state ! Mr. Bradford strongly recommended a rotation in the 
election of governor. " If this appointment," he pleaded, " was 
any honor or benefit, others beside himself should partake of it ; 
if it was a burden, others beside himself should help to bear it." 
But the people were so much attached to him, that for thirty years 
they placed him at the head of the government, and in the five 
years, when others were chosen, he was first in the list of assistants, 
which gave him the rank of deputy governor. After an infirm 
and declining state of health for a number of months, he was sud- 
denly seized by an acute disease May 7, 1657. In the night his 
mind was so enraptured by contemplations upon religious truth and 
the hopes of futurity, that he said to his friends in the morning, 
" the good Spirit of God has given me a pledge of my happiness 
in another world, and the first fruits of eternal glory." The next 
day. May 9, 1657, he was removed from the present state of exist- 
ence, in the sixty ninth year of his age, greatly lamented by the 
people not only in Plymouth, bvit in the nc ighboring colonies. 



92 BRA. 

Governor Bradford, though not favored witli a learned education^ 
possessed u strong mind, a sound judgment, and a good memory. 
In tne office of chief magistrate he was prudent, temperate, and 
firm. He would suffer no person to trample on the laws, or to 
distvu'b the peace of the colony. Some young men, who were un- 
willing to comply with the order for laboring on the public account, 
excused themselves on a Christmas day under pretence, that it was 
against their conscience to work. But not long afterwards finding 
them at play in the street, he commanded the instruments of their 
game to be taken from them, and told them, that it was against his con- 
science to suffer tiiem to play, while others were at work, and that if 
they had any religious regard to the day they should show it in the 
exercise of devotion at home. Tins gentle reproof had the desired 
effect. On other occasions his conduct was equally moderate and 
determined. Suspecting John Lyforo, who had imposed himself 
upon the colony as a minister, of factious designs, and observing 
that he had put a great number of letters on board a ship for Eng- 
land, the governor in a boat followed the ship to sea, and examined 
the letters. As satisfactory evidence against Lyford was thus ob- 
tained, a convenient time was afterwards taken for bringing him to 
trial, and he was banished. 

Though he never enjoyed great literary advantages, governor 
Bradford was much inclined to literary pursuits. He was familiar 
with the French and Dutch languages, and attained a considerable 
knowledge of the Latin and Greek ; but he more assiduously studied 
the Hebrew, because, as he said, " he would sec with his own eyes the 
ancient oracles of God in their native beauty." He had read much 
of hist »ry and philosophy, but theology was his favorite study. 
Dr. Mather represents him as an irrefragable disputant, especially 
against the anal aptists. Yet he was by no means severe or intoler- 
ant. He wished rather to convince the erroneous, than to suppress 
their opinions by violence. His disposition was gentle and conde- 
scending. Though he Avas attached to the discipline of the con- 
gregational churches ; yet he was not a rigid separatist. He per- 
ceived, that the reformed churches differed among themselves in 
the modes of discipline, and he did not look for a perfect uniform- 
ity. His life was exemplary and useful. He was watchful against 
sin, a man of prayer, and conspicuous for holiness. His son Wil 
liam, born in 1624, was deputy governor of the colony after his 
father's death, and died at Plymouth at the age of eighty. Several 
of his descendants were members of the council of Massachusetts, 
and one of them was deputy governor of Rhode Island and a sena- 
tor in the congress of the United States. 

Governor Bradford wrote a history of Plymouth people and col- 
ony, beginning with the first formation of the church in 1602 and 
ending with 1 646. It was contained in a folio volume of 270 pages. 
Morton's memorial is an abridgment of it. Prince and Hutchin- 



BRA, 93 

son had the use of it, and the manuscript was deposited with Mr. 
Prince's valuable collection of papers in the library of the old south 
church in Boston. In the year 1775 it shared the fate of many 
other manuscripts in this place. It was destroyed or carried away 
by the barbarians of the British army, who converted the old south 
church into a riding school. He had also a large book of copies of 
letters, relative to the affairs of the colony, which is lost. A frag- 
ment of it however, found in a grocer's shop at Halifax, has been 
published by the Massachusetts historical society, to which is sub- 
joined a descriptive and historical account oi New England in verse. 
If tnis production is somewhat deficient in the beauties of poetry, 
it has the more substantial graces ot piety and truth. . He publish- 
ed some pieces for the confutation of the errors of the times, par- 
ticularly of the anabaptists.— i-'f/Ar^jft/z'* Amer. biog. ii. 217 — 251 ; 
Mather^ s magnaiia') ii. 2—5 ; MortorC s memorial^ 15G — 25 1 ; Har- 
die's biog. diet. ; Meal's M. England.^ i. 99, 316 ; Prince's annals^ 
pref. vi, ix, l.;6 ; Hinf/iro/i^ 47 ; Holmes" annals-, i. 210, 370; 
Collect, hist. soc. iii. 27, 77. 

BRADFORD (William), an eminent printer, came to America 
about the year 1680, and landed where Philadelphia now stands, be- 
fore the city was luid out, or a house built. He lived the greater 
part of his life in New York, and was printer to the government of 
that province upwards of fifty years. He died at New York May 
23, 1752, in the ninety iourth year of his age, having ever been a 
stranger to sickness. He fell into the grave merely from the decay 
of the powers of life. While he was remarkable for industry he was 
also conspicuous for temperance. Though he attended with dili- 
gence to his own concerns, he was in a pecuHar manner the friend 
of the poor. — P.-^nnsyl-uania gazette^ May 28, 1752. 

BRADFORD (William), an eminent printer and friend of his 
country, died at Philadelphia, September 25, 1791, in the seventy 
third year of his age. In the war with Great Britain he early es- 
poused the cause of his country, and was colonel of a regiment. He 
was many years editor of the Pennsylvania journal, and being a 
printer, as were his ancestors for three generations, like them he 
devoted his press to the interests of liberty. — United States gazette^ 
October 1, 1791 ; Boston centinel, October 8, 1791. 

BRADFORD (William), attorney general of the United States, 
was boi-n in Philadelphia September 14, 175 5, and was early placed 
under the care of a respectable clergyman a few miles from the city. 
His father had formed the plan of bringing him up in the insurance 
office, which he then conducted ; but so strongly was the love of 
learning implanted in the mind of his son, that neither persuasions, 
nor offers of pecuniary advantage could prevail with him to abandon 
the hopes of a liberal education. He was graduated at Princeton 
college in 1772. During his residence at this seminary he was 
greatly beloved by his fellow students, while he ccnfirmed the e^- 



S4 BRA. 

pectations of his friends and the faculty of the college by giving re- 
peated evidence of genius and taste. At the public commencement 
he had one of the highest honors of the class conferred upon him. 
After continuing at Princeton till the year following, during which 
time he had an opportunity of attending the excellent lectures on 
theology of the reverend Dr. VVitherspoon, and derived from this 
useful teacher much information and general knowledge, he return- 
ed to the scenes of his youth, and spent several months under the 
instruction of his first preceptor, who strove to prepare him for fu- 
ture usefulness in life. 

He now commenced the study of the law under the honorable 
Edward Shippen, esquire, one of the council of the supreme court 
of Pennsylvania and afterwards chief justice of the state, and 
he prosecuted his studies with unwearied application. In the spring 
of 1776 he was called upon by the peculiar circumstances of the 
times to exert himself in defence of the dearest rights of human 
nature, and to join the standard of his country in opposition to the 
oppressive exactions of Great Britain. When the militia were|call- 
ed out to form the flying camp, he was chosen major of brigade to 
general Rdberdeau, and on the expiration of his term accepted a 
company in colonel Hampton's regiment of regular troops. He 
was soon promoted to the station of deputy mvister master general, 
with the rank of lieutenant colonel, in which office he continued 
about two years till his want of health, being of a delicate constitu- 
tion, obliged him to resign his commission and return home. He 
now recommenced the study of the law, and in September 1779 
was admitted to the bar of the supreme court of Pennsylvania, where 
his rising character soon procured him an unusual share of business. 
In August 1780, only one year after he was licensed, by the recom- 
mendation of the bar and the particular regard of his excellency, 
Joseph Reed, esquire, president of the state, he was appointed attor- 
ney general of Pennsylvania. 

In 1784 he married the daughter of Elias Boudinot of New Jer- 
sey, counsellor at law, with whom he lived till his death in the ex- 
ercise of every domestic virtue, that adorns human nature. On the re- 
formation of the courts of justice under the new constitution of Penn- 
sylvania, he was solicited to accept the office of a judge of the supreme 
court, which with much hesitation he accepted, and was commis- 
sioned by his excellency, governor Mifflin, August 22, 1791. In 
this station his indefatigable industry, unshaken integrity, and cor- 
rect judgment enabled him to give general satisfaction. Here he 
had determined to spend a considerable part of his life ; but on the 
promotion of Mr. Edmund Randolph to the office of secretary of 
state, as successor of Mr. .Tefierson, he was urged by various public 
considerations to accept the office of attorney general of the United 
States, now left vacant. He accordingly received the appointment 
January 28, 17.'1. But he continued only a short time in this ata- 



BRA. 9$ 

tion, to which he was elevated by Washington. He died August 
23, 1795, in the fortieth year of his age, and was succeeded by Mr. 
Lee of Virginia. According to liis express desire he was buried 
by the side of his parents in the burial ground of the second presby- 
terian church in Philadelphia. 

Mr. Bradford possessed a mild and amiable temper, and his gen- 
teel and unassuming manners Avere united with genius, eloquence, 
and taste. As a public speaker he was persuasive and convincing. 
He understood mankind well, and knew how to place his arguments 
in the most striking point of light. His language was pure and sen- 
tentious ; and he so managed most of his forensic disputes, as scarcely 
ever to displease his opponents, while he gave the utmost satisfac- 
tion to his clients. He possessed great firmness of opinion, yet was 
remarkable for his modesty and caution in delivering his sentiments. 
Combining a quick and retentive memory and an excellent judg- 
ment with great equanimity and steadiness in his conduct and a 
pleasing deportment, he conciliated respect and affection. Towards 
his country he felt the sincerest attachment, and her interests he 
preferred to every selfish consideration. His charities were secret, 
but extensive ; and none in distress weie ever known to leave him 
with discontent. It is mentioned as a proof of his benevolence, that 
he adopted and educated as his own son an orphan child of his ex- 
cellency, Joseph Reed, esquire. His friendships were few, but very 
affectionate ; and those, who aided him in his first setting out in 
life, were never ungratefully forgotten. Though engaged con- 
stantly in public business ; yet the concerns of this world did not 
make him regardless of the more important concerns of religion. 
He firmly believed the christian system, for he had given it a thorough 
examination. By its incomparable rules he regulated his whole 
conduct, and on its promises he founded all his hopes of future hap- 
piness. 

In the earlier periods of his life he was not unacquainted 
with the walks of poetry, and some of his poetical productions 
in imitation of the pastorals of Shenstone were published in the 
Philadelphia magazines. They were at the time held in high estima- 
tion. He published in 1793 an inquiry how far the punishment of 
death is necessary in Pennsylvania, with notes and illustrations ; to 
which is added an account of the gaol and penitentiary house of* 
Philadelphia, by Caleb Lownes. This work was written by Mr. 
Bradford at the request of governor Mifflin, "and was intended for 
the use of the legislature in the nature of a report, they having the 
subject at large under their consideration. Furnishing a proof of 
the good sense and philanthropy of the author, it gained him great 
credit. It had much influence in meliorating the criminal laws and 
hastening the almost entire abolition of capital punishments not only 
in Pennsylvania, but in several other states, where the interests of 
humanity have at last prevailed over ancient and inveterate preju- 



96 BIt\. 

diceSf—Reea' cyclofioedia^ .American edition ; Hardie'a biograjihicai 
dictionary ; Marshall., v. 489, 639 ; Gazette of the United Statetf 
August 24, 1795. 

BRADSTREET (Simon), governor of Massachusetts, was the 
son of a noncontbrmist minister in England, and was born at Horblin 
in Lincolnshire in March 1603. His father died when he was at 
the age of lourteen. But he was soon afterwards taken into the 
relii^ious family of the earl of Lincoln, in which he continued about 
eight years under the direction of Mr. Thomas Dudley, and among 
other offices sustained that of steward. He lived a year at Emanuel 
college, Cambridge, pursuing his studies amidst many interrup- 
tions. He then returned to the earl's ; but soon accepted the place 
of steward in the family of the countess of Warwick. Here he contin- 
ued till he married a daughter of Mr. Dudley, and was persuaded to 
engage in the project of making a settlement in Massachusetts. He 
Avas in March 1630 chosen assistant ol the colony, which was about 
to be established, and' arrived at Salem in the summer of the same 
year. He was at the first court, which was held at Charlestown on 
the twenty third of August. He was afterwards secretary and agent 
of Massachusetts, and commissioner of the united colonies. He 
was sent with Mr. Norton in 1662 to congratulate king Charles up- 
on his restoration, and as agent of the colony to promote its interests. 
From 1673 to 1679 he was deputy governor. In this last year he 
succeeded Mr. Leveret as governor, and remained in this office till 
May 1686, when the charter was dissolved, and Mr. Joseph Dudley 
commenced his administration as president of New England. In 
May 1689, after the imprisonment of Andros, he was replaced in 
the office of governor, which station he held till the arrival of sir 
William Phips in May 1692 with a charter, which deprived the 
people of the right of electing their chief magistrate. He died at 
Salem March 27, 1697, aged ninety four years. He had been fifty 
years an assistant of the colony. 

Governor Bradstreet, though he possessed no vigorous, nor splen- 
did talents, yet by his integrity, prudence, moderation, and piety, 
acquired the confidence of all classes of people. When king 
Charles demanded a surrender of the charter, he was in favor of 
complying ; and the event proved the correctness of his opinion. 
He thought it would be more prudent for the colonists to submit to 
a power, which they could not resist, than to have judgment given 
against the charter, and thus their privileges be entirely cut off". If 
his moderation in regard to religious affairs, particularly towards the 
anabaptists and the quakers, was not so conspicuous, it was not a fmilt 
peculiar to him. His first wife, the daughter of governor Thomas 
Dudley, was a woman of distinguished irenius and learning, r.nd 
author of a volume of poems.— ..l/a^/i^-r's inaffnalia, ii. 19, 20 ; 
HutchincoT^ i. 18, 219, 323; ii. 13, 105 ; HolmrH' annals, ii. 38; 
JVeal's A''fw F.nghvirl. i.350; ii. 186; Prince,10\,'2\2 ; Collections 
^historical eocicd/, i.229jYi.271,288. 



BRA. 97 

BRADSTR£ET (Simon), minister of Charlestovvn, Massachu" 
setts, was graduated at Harvard coiiege in 1693, and was ordained, 
as successor of Mr. Morton, October 26, 1698. He received Mr. 
Abbot as his colleague in 1724. After a ministry of more than 
forty years, he died December 31, 1741, aged seventy two years. 

He was a very learned man, of a strong mind, tenacious memory, 
and lively imagination. Lieutenant governor Tailer introduced 
him to governor Burnet, who was himself a fine scholar, by saying, 
here is a man, Avho can whistle Greek ; and the governor afterwards 
spoke of him as one of the first literary characters and best preach- 
ers, whom he had met with in America. Mr. Bradstreet was 
subject to hypochondriacal complaints, which made him afraid to 
preach in the pulpit some years before he di«d. He delivered his 
sermons in the deacon's seat, without notes, and tliey were in gen- 
eral melancholy effusions upon the wretched state of mankind and 
the vanity of the world. He possessed such a catholic spirit, that 
some of the more zealous brethren accused him of arminianism ; 
but the only evidence of this was his fondness for Tillotson's ser- 
mons, and his being rather a practical, than a doctrinal preacher. 
He seldom appeared with a coat, but always wore a plaid gown, 
and was generally seen with a pipe in his mouth. One of his sons 
was minister of Marblehead. A latin epitaph, written by Mr. 
Bradstreet upon his predecessor, Mr. Morton, has been preserved 
by the Massachusetts historical socwiy.—-Collections hiat^ society^ 
viii, 75. 

BRADSTREET (Simo^n), minister of Marblehead, Massachu- 
setts, was the son of the precetling, and was graduated at Harvard 
college in 1728. He was ordained successor of Mr. Holyoke Jan- 
uary 4, 1738. His death took place October 5, 1771, Mr. Isaac 
Story, who married his daughter, having been his colleague four or 
five months. He was an excellent scholar, a most worthy and 
pious christian, and faithful pastor ; laboring to bring his hearers 
to the love of God, the reception of the Savior, and the practice of 
holiness. — Collections hist. soc. viii. 75, 76. 

BRADSTREET (John), a major general in America appointed 
by the king of Great Britain, was in 1746 lieutenant governor of 
St. John's, Newfoundland. He was afterwai'ds distinguished for 
his military services. It was thought of the highest importance in 
the year 1756 to keep open the communication with fort Oswego 
on lake Ontario. General Shirley accordingly enlisted forty com- 
panies of boat men, each consisting of fifty men, for transporting 
stores to the fort from Schenectady, and placed them under the 
command of Bradstreet, who was an active and vigilant officer, and 
inured to the hardships, to which that service exposed hivn. In 
the beginning of the spring of this year a small blockaded post 
with twenty five men, at the carrying place, was cut off It be- 
3*amc necessary to pass through the country with large squadron's 



98 BRA. 

of boats, as the enemy infested the passage through the Onondaga 
river. On his return from Oswcj^o on the third oi July 1756 col- 
onel Bradstreet, who wus upprencuiive of being ambushed, ordered 
the several divisions to proceed as near each other as possible. He 
was at the head of about three hundred boat men in the first divis- 
ion, when at the distance of about nine miles from the fort the ene- 
my rose from their ambuscade and att.xked him. He instantly 
landed upon a small island and with but six men maintained his 
position till he was reinforced. A general engagement ensued, in 
which Bradstreet with grc.t gallantry rushed upon a more nume- 
rous enemy, and entirely routed them, killing and wounding about 
two hundred men. His own loss wi-.s about thirty. He arrived at 
Schenectady on the eleventh of July. In the year 1758 he was 
entrusted with the command of three thousand men on an expedi- 
tion against fort Frontenac, which Wc.s planned by himself. He 
embarked at Oswego on lake Ontario and on the evening of the 
tv/enty fifth of August landed witliin a mile of the::-fort. On 
the twenty seventh it was surrendered to him. Forty piece^ 
of cannon and a vast quantity of provisioiTs and merchandise, with. 
one hundred and ten prisoners, fell into his hands. The fort and 
nine armed vessels and such stores, as could not be removed, were 
destroyed. In August 1764 he advanced with a considerable force 
toward the Indian covmtry, and at Presque Isle compelled the Del- 
awares, Shawanese, and other Indians to terms of peace. He was 
appointed major general in May 1772. After rendering impor- 
tant services to his country, he died at New York October 2 1^ 

1774 Wynne, n. 59 — 61, 86 — 88; Annual re^ster for 1764, 

181 ; Holmes' a7inals, ii. 229 ; Marshall, i. 437,408 ; CoUectiant 
hist. sac. .'ii. 150, 155. 

BRAINERD (David), an eminent preacher and missionary 
to the Indians, was born at Haddam, Connecticut, April 20, 1718. 
He lost both his parents, while but a youth. As his mind was ear- 
ly impressetl by the truths of religion, he took delight in reading 
those books, which communicated religious instruction ; he called 
upon the name of God in secret prayer ; he studied the scriptures 
with great diligence ; and he associated with several young persons 
for mutual encouragement and assistance in the paths of wisdom. 
But in all this he afterwards considered himself as self righteous, 
as completely destitute of true piety, as governed by the fear of 
future punishment and not by the love of God, ns depending for 
salvation upon his good feelings and his strict life, without a per- 
ception of the necessity and the value of the mediation of Christ. 
At this time he would indeed acknowledge, that he deserved nothing 
for his best works, for the theory of salvation was familiar to him ; 
but while he made the acknowledgment, he did not feel what it im- 
plied. He still secretly re'ied upon the warmth of his affections, 
7^pon his sincerity, upon some quality in Iiimsclf us the ground of 



BRA. 99 

acceptance with God, instead of relying upon the I-,ord Jesus, 
through whom alone there is access to the Father. At length he 
was brought under a deep sense of his sinfulness, and he perceiv- 
ed, that there was nothing good in him. This conviction was not 
■a sudden perturbation of mind ; it was a permanent impression, 
made by the view of his own character, when compared with that 
holy law of God, which he was bound to obey. But the discov- 
ery was unwelcome and irritating. He could not readily aban- 
don the hope, which rested upon his religious exercises. He Avas 
reluctant to admit, that the principle, whence all his actions pro- 
ceeded, was entirely corrupt. He was opposed to the strictness of 
the divine law, wliich extended to the heart us well as w the life. 
He murmured against the doctrines, that faith was indispensably 
necessai7 to salvation, and that faith was completely thegiitof God. 
Me was irritated in not finding any way pointed out, which would 
lead him to the Savior, in not finding any means prescribed, by 
"which an unrenewed man could of his own strength obtain that, 
which the highest angel could not give. He was unwilling to be- 
lieve, that he was dead in trespasses and in sins. But these un- 
pleasant truths were fastened upon his mind, and they could not be 
shaken off. It pleased God to disclose to him his true character 
and condition and to quell the tumult of his soul. He saw that hir 
schemes to save himself were entirely vain, and must forever be in- 
effectual ; he perceived, that it was self interest, which had before 
led him to pray, and that he had never once prayed from any 
respect to the gloi"y of God; he felt, that he was lost. In this state 
of mind, while he was walking in a solitary place in the evening ol 
July 12, 1739, meditating upon religious subjects, his mind was 
illuminated with completely new views of the divine perfections ; 
he perceived a glory in the character of God and in the way of sal- 
vation by the crucified Son of the Most High, which was never be- 
fore discerned ; and he was led to depend upon Jesus Christ for 
righteousness, and to seek the glory of God as his principal objects 
In September 1739 he was admitted a member of Yale college, 
but he was expelled in February 1742. The circumstances, which 
led to this expulsion, were these. There had been great attention 
to reFigion in the college, and Mr. Brainerd, whose feelings were 
■naturally warm, and whose whole «oul was interested in the prog- 
ress of the gospel, was misled by an intemperate zeal, and was 
guilty of indiscretions, which at that time were not unfrequent. In 
a conversation with some of his associates he expressed his belief, 
that one of the tutors was destitute of religion. Being in part 
overheard, his associates were compelled by the rector to declare, 
respecting whom he was speaking ; and he was required to make 
a public confession in the hall. Brainerd thought, that it \ve.s un- 
just to extort from his friends what he had uttered in conversations 
and that the punishment was too severe. As be refused to j-aakt. 



loa BRA. 

the confession, and as he had been guilty of going to a separate 
meeting after prohibition by the authority of college, he was ex- 
pelled. The expulsion was perhaps necessary, as tilings existed ; 
but in the circumstances, which led to it, there appears a strong 
disposition to hunt up offences against the new lights, as those, who 
were attached to the preaching of Mr. Wiiitcfield and Tennent, 
were then called. It was not so strange, that a young man should 
have been indiscreet, as that he should confess himself to have 
been so. Mr. Brainerd afterwards perceived, that he had been un- 
charitable and h.id done wrong, and with sincerity and humility he 
acknowledged his error and exhil)ited a truly christian spirit ; but 
he was never restored and never obtained his degree. Though he 
felt no resentment, and ever lamented his own conduct, yet he al- 
ways considered himself as abused in the management of this affair^ 

In the spring of 1742 he went to Ripton to pursue tlie study of 
divinity under the care of the reverend Mr. Mills, and at the end 
of July was licensed to preach by the association of ministers, 
which met at Danbury, after they had made inquiries respecting 
his learning, and his acquaintance with experimental religion. 
Soon after he began his theological studies, he Avas very desirous 
of preaching the gospel to the heathen and frequently prayed for 
them. In November, after he was licensed, he was invited to go to 
New York, and was examined by the correspondents of the socie- 
ty for propagating christian knowledge, and was appointed by them 
a missionary to the Indians. 

He arrived on the first of April 1743 at Kaunameek, an Indian 
village in the woods between Stockbridge, in the state of Massachu- 
setts, and Albany, at the distance of about twenty miles from the 
former phice and fifteen miles from Kinderhook. He now began 
his labors at the age of twenty five, and continued in this place 
about a year. At first he lived in a wigwam among the Indians ; 
but he afterward built himself a cabin, that he might be alone, 
when not employed in preaching and instructing the savages. He 
lodged upon a bimdle of straw, and his food was principally boiled 
corn, hasty pudding, and samp. With a feeble bodv, and fre- 
quent illness, and great depression of mind, he was obliged to en- 
counter many discouragements, and to submit to hardships, which 
would be almost insupportable bj a much stronger constitution. 
But he persisted in his benevolent labors, animated by the hope, 
that he should prove the means of illuminating some darkened 
mind with the truth, as it is in Jesus. Besides his exertions, which 
had immediate reference to the instruction of the savages, he stud- 
ied much, and employed much time in the delightful employment 
of communing in the wilderness with that merciful Being, who is 
present in all places, and who is the sui)port and the joy of all 
christians. When the Indians at Kaunameek had agreed to re- 
move to Stockbridge and place themselves under the instruction 



BRA, 101 

oi the reverend Mr. Sergeant, Mr. Brainerd left them and bent 
his attention towards the Delaware Indians. 

He was ordained at Newark in New Jersey by a presbytery June 
12, 1744, on which occasion the reverend Mr. Pemberton of New 
York preached a sermon. He soon afterwards went to the new 
field of his labors, near the foi-ks of the Delaware in Pennsylvania, 
and continued thei-e a year ; in the course of which he made two 
visits to the Indians on Susquehannah river. He again built him a 
cabin for retirement, but here he had the happiness to find some 
white people, with whom he maintained family prayer. After the 
hardships of a year's continuance in this place with but little en- 
couragement from the eft'ect of his exertions, he visited the In- 
dians at Crosweeksung, near Freehold in New Jersey. In this 
village he was favored with remarkable success. The Spirit of 
God seemed to bring home effectually to the hearts of theignorant 
heathens the truths, which he delivered to them with affection and 
zeal. His Indian interpreter, who had been converted by his 
preaching, cooperated cheerfully in the good work. It was not un* 
common for the whole congregation to be in tears, or to be crying 
out under a sense of sin. In less than a year Mr. Brainerd bap- 
tized seventy seven persons, of whom tliirty eight were adults, 
that gave satisfactory evidence of having been renovated by the 
power of God ; and he beheld with unspeakable pleasure between 
twenty and thirty of his converts seated round the table of the. 
Lord. The Indians were at the time entirely reformed in their 
lives. They were very liumble and devout, and united in christ- 
ian affection. The sudden change, which was produced, was consid- 
ered by Mr. Brainerd as the unquestionable effect of divine influ- 
ence. How far this opinion was justified by the holy and spotless 
lives of his Indian converts is not known. It is possible, that but few 
of them were truly religious, and that the greater part were acted 
upon by the power of sympathy. But whatever may be the fact with 
regard to his real success, his persevering benevolence claims the 
highest commendation, and without doubt will be rewarded at that 
great day, when every man will reap according as he has sowed. 

In the summer of 1746 Mr. Brainerd visited the Indians on the 
Susquehannah, and on his return in September found himself worn 
out by the hardships of his journey. His health Avas so much 
impaired, that he was able to preach but little more. Being advis- 
ed in the spring of 1747 to travel in New England, he went as far 
as Boston, and returned in July to Northampton, where in the fam- 
ily of Jonathan Edwards he passed the remainder of his days. He 
gradually declined till October 9, 1747, when, after suffering inex-. 
pressible agony, he entered upon that rest, which remaineth for the, 
faithful servants of God, in the thirtieth year of his age. 

Mr. Brainerd was a man of vigorous powers of mind. While 
he was favored with a quick discernment and ready invention, with 



102 BRA. 

a strong memory and natural eloquence, he also possessed in an 
uncommon degree the penetration, the closeness auU force of 
thougUt, und the soundness of judgment, which distinguish the 
man of talents from him, who subsists entirely upon the learning 
of others. His knowledge was extensive, and he added to his other 
attainments an intimate acquaintance with human nature, gained not 
only by observing others, but by carefully noticing the operations 
of his own mind. As he was of a sociable disposition, and could 
adapt himself with great ease to the different capacities, tempers^ 
and circumstances of men, he was remarkably fitted to communi- 
cate instruction. He was very free, and entertaining, and useful 
in nis ordinary discourse ; and he was also an able disputant. As 
a preacher he was perspicuous and instructive, forcible, close, and 
pathetic. He abhorred an affected boisterousness in the pulpit, 
and yet he could not tolerate a cold delivery, when the subject of 
discourse was such, as should warm the heart, and produce an 
earnestness of manner. 

His knowledge of theology was uncommonly extensive and ac- 
curate. President Edwards, whose opinion of Mr. Brainerd was 
founded upon an intimate acquaintance with him, says, that " he 
never knew his equal, of his age and standing, for clear, accurate 
notions of the nature and essence of true religion, and its distinct» 
ions from its various false appearances." Mr. Brainerd had no 
■charity for the religion of those, who indulging the hope, that they 
■were interested in the divine mercy, settled down in a state of se- 
curity and negligence. He believed, that the good man would be 
continually making progress towards perfection, and that conver- 
sion was not merely a great change in the views of the mind and 
the affections of the heart, produced by the Spirit of (iod ; but 
that it was the beginning of a course of holiness, which through 
the divine agency would be pursued through life. From the ar- 
dor, with which he engaged in missionary labors, some may be led 
to conclude, that his mind was open to the influence of fanaticism. 
During his residence at college, his spirit was mdeed somewhat ting- 
ed with the zeal of bitterness ; but it was not long before he was 
restored to true benevolence and the pure love of tlie truth. From 
this time he detested enthusiasm in all its forms. He reprobated 
all dependence upon impulses, or impressions on the imagination, 
or the sudden suggestion of texts of scripture. He withstood every 
doctrine, which seemed to verge towards antinomianism, particularly 
the sentiments of those, who thought that faith consists in believ- 
ing, that Christ died for them in particular, and who founded their 
love of God, not upon the excellence of his character, but upon the 
previous impression, that they were the objects of his favor, and 
should assuredly be saved. He rebufied the pride and presump- 
tion of laymen, who thrust themselves forth as public teachers 
and decried human learning and a learned ministry ; he detested 



BRA. 103 

the spirit, "which generally influenced the separat ista through th^ 
country ; and he w.is eriiirely opposed to that religion, which was 
fond of noise and show, and delighted to publish its experiences 
and privileges. Very different from the above was the religion, 
which Mr. Brainerd approved, and which he displayed in his own 
life. In his character were combined the most ardent and pure 
love to God and the most unaffected benevolence to man, an alien- 
ation from the vain and perishable pursuits of the world, the most 
iiumbling and constant sense of his own iniquity, wliich was a greiat- 
er burden to him than all his afflictions, great brokenness of he ait 
before God for the coldness of his love and the imperfection of hii 
christian virtues, the most earnest breathings of soul after holiness, 
real delight in the gospel of Jesus Christ, sweet complacence in ail 
his disciples, incessant desires and importunate prayers that men 
might be brought to the knowledge and the obedience of the truth, 
and that thus God might be glorified and the kingdom of Christ 
advanced, great resignation to the will of his heavenly Father, an 
entire distrust of his own heart and a universal dependence upon 
God, the absolute renunciation of every thing for his Redeemer, 
the most clear and abiding views of the things of the eternal world, 
a continual warfare against sin, and the most vinwearied exertion of 
all his powers in the service and in obedience to the commands of the 
Most High. He believed that the essence of true religion consists in 
the conformity of the soul to God, in acting above all selfish views 
for his glory, desiring to please and honor him in all things, and 
that from a view of his excellency, and worthiness in himself to be 
loved, adored, and obeyed by all intelligent creatures. When this 
divine temper was wrought in the soul by the special influences 
of the Holy Spirit, discovering the glory of God in the face of 
Jesus Christ, he believed, that the Author of all good could not 
but delight in his own image, and would most certainly complete 
his own work, which he had begun in the human heart. 

The religion of Mr. Brainerd did not consist in speculation ; 
but he carried his own principles into practice. Resisting the so- 
licitations of selfishness, he consecrated his powers to the high and 
benevolent objects, enjoined in the scriptu'^es. It v/as his whole 
aim to promote in the most effectual manner the glory of his Re- 
deemer. After the termination of a year's fruitless mission at 
Kaunameek, where he had suffered the greatest hardships, he was 
invitedtobecomethe minister of East Hampton, one of the best par- 
ishes on Long Island ; but though he was not insensible to the 
pleasures of a quiet and fixed abode, among christian friends, in 
the midst of abundance ; vet, witlwut the desire of fame, he pre- 
ferred the dangers and sufferings of a new mission among savages. 
He loved his Savior, and wished to make known his precious name 
among the heathen. 

In his last illness and during the approaches of death Mr. Brain- 



104 BRA. 

crd was remarkably resigned and composed. He spoke oi that 
willingness to die, which originates in the desire of escaping pain* 
and in the hope of obtaining pleasure or distinction in heaven, as 
very ignoble. The heaven, which he seemed to anticipate, con- 
sisted in the love and the service of God. " It is impossible," said he, 
" for any rational creature to be happy without acting all for God. I 
long to be in heaven, praising and glorifying him with the holy an- 
gels. — There is nothing in the world worth living for, but doing 
good and finishing God's work ; doing the work, which Christ did. 
I sec nothing else in the world, that can yield any satisfaction, be- 
sides living to God, pleasing him, and doing his whole will. My 
greatest comfort and joy has been to do something for promoting 
the interests of religion, and for the salvation of the souls of pai'- 
ticular persons." When he was about to be separated forever 
from the earth, his desires seemed to be as eager as ever for the 
progress of the gospel. He spoke much of the prosperity of Zi- 
on, of the infinite importance of the work, which was committed 
to the ministers of Jesus Christ, and of the necessity, which was 
imposed upon them, to be constant and earnest in prayer to God 
for the success of their exertions. A little while before his death 
he said to Mr. Edwards, " my thoughts have been much employed 
on the old, dear theme, the prosperity of God's church on earth. 
As I waked out of sleep, I was led to cry for the pouring out of 
God's Spirit, and the advancement of Christ's kingdom, which 
the dear Redeemer did and suffered so much for ; it is this espec- 
ially, which makes me long for it." He lelt at this time a pecul- 
iar concern for his own congregation of christian Indians. Eterni- 
ty was before him with all its tremendous interests. " 'Tis sweet 
to me," said he, " to think of eternity. But Oh, what shall I say 
to the eternity of the wicked ! I cannot mention it, nor think of 
it. The thought is too dreadful !" In answer to the inquiry, how 
he did, he said, " I am almost in eternity ; I long to be there. My 
work is done. I have done with all my friends. All the world is 
now notliing to me. Oh, to be in heaven, to praise and glorify God 
with his holy angels !" At length, after the trial of his patience by 
the most excruciating sufferings, his spirit was released from its 
tabernacle of day, and entered those mansions, which the Lord Je- 
sus hath prepared for all his faithful disciples. 

The exertions of Mr. Brainerd in the christian cause were of 
short continuance, but they were intense, and incessant, and effect- 
ual. One must be either a very good or a very bad man, who can 
read his life without blushing for himself. If ardent piety and en- 
larged benevolence, if the supreme love of God and the inextin- 
guishable desire of promoting his glory in the salvation of im- 
mortal souls, if persevering resolution in the midst of the most 
pressing discouragements, if checilul self denial and unremitted 
Tabor, if humility and zeal for godliness, united with conspicuou* 



BRA. 105 

ialents, render a man worthy of remembrance ; the name of Brai- 
nerd will not soon be forgotten. 

He published a narrative of his labors at Kaunameek, annexed 
to Mr. Pemberton's sermon at his ordination ; and his journal, or 
an account of the rise and progress of a remarkable work of grace 
amongst a number of Indians in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, with 
some general remarks, 1746. This work, which is very interest- 
ing, and which displays the piety and talents of the author, was pub- 
lished by the commissioners of the society in ScotUmd, with a pref- 
ace by them, and an attestation by the reverend William Teiment 
and the reverend Mr. Mc'Knight. His life, written by president 
Edwards, is compiled chiefly from his own diary. Annexed to it 
are some of his letters and other writings. It is a book, which is 
well calculated to enkindle a flame of benevolence and piety in the 
breast. — Brainerd's life ; his journal ; Edtvarda^ funeral sermon ; 
Middlelon^s biot^rafihia evangelicu., iv- 262 — 264 ; Assembly's mis-' 
sionary magazine.) ii. 449 — 452. 

BRANDT colonel, a famous Indian chief, was educated under 
the care of the reverend Dr. Wheelock, first president of Dart- 
mouth college. In the war of the American revolution he attached 
himself to the British cause. In 1778 he, with colonel John Butler, 
headed a party of one thousand one hundred men, nine hundred 
of whom were Indians, and broke up the settlements on the Sus- 
quehannah. Wyoming, on the eastern branch of that river, was de- 
stroyed with circumstances of horrid treachery and cruelty. Near 
two hundred of the whites were killed in one engagement. In July 
1779 he attacked the Minisink settlement in New York, and did 
much mischief. After the war he resided in upper Canada, He 
was a half blooded Indian, chief of the Mohawk tribe, cruel and fe- 
rocious. It is said, that he was once under the necessity of killing 
one of his sons in order to preserve his own life. He died in up- 
per Canada in the year 1807. 

He translated into the Mohawk language the gospel of St. Mark 
and the liturgy of the English church. This translation was pub- 
lished for the benefit of the Indians. John Norton, chief of the six 
nations, has translated also into the Mohawk language the gospel 
of John, and intends to proceed with Matthew and l^\xk.e.— -Holmes' 
annals, ii. 422 ; Panoplist^ iii. 323, 324. 

BRATTLE (Thomas), a respectable merchant of Boston, 
was graduated at Harvard college in 1 676 and was afterwards treas- 
urer of that institution. He was a principal fouiider of the church 
in Brattle street, of which the reverend Dr. Colman was the first 
minister. His death took place May 18, 1713, in the fifty fixth 
year of his age. He was the brother of the reverend William 
Brattle. Several of his communications on astronomical subjects 
were published in the philosophical transactions.; — Holmes* annah^ 
ii; 78 J Qolmun's life^ 42. 

1-4 



y 



106 BRA. 

BRATTLE (William), minister of Cambridge, Massachusetts^ 
was born in Boston about the year 1672, and was graduated at Hur-x 
vard colie,5e in 1680. He was afterwards for several years a tutor 
and a fellow of that seminary. He exerted himselt to iorm his 
pupil.s to virtue and the fear of God, punishing vice with the au- 
thority of a master, and cherishing every virtvious disposition with 
parental goodness. When the small pox prevailed in the college, 
he was not driven away in terror ; but with benevolent courage 
remained at his post, and visited the sick, both that he might ad- 
ininlster to them relief, and might impress upon them those truths, 
which were necessary to their salvation. As he had never expe- 
rienced the disease, he now took it in the natural way ; for the 
practice of inoculation had not been introduced into America. But^ 
the course of the disorder was mild and he was soon restored to his 
usual health. 

He was ordained pastor of the church in Cambridge, as succes- 
sor of the reverend Mr. Gookin, November 25, 1696, and altera 
useful ministry of twenty years died February 15, 1717, in the 
fifty fifth year of his age. He was succeeded by the reverend Dr. 
Appleton. His funeral was attended on the twentieth of February, 
a day memorable for the great snow, which then commenced, and 
which detained for several days at Cambridge the magistrates and 
ministers, who were iissembled on the occasion. The snow was 
six feet deep in some parts of the streets of Boston. 

Mr. Brattle was a very religious, good man, an able divine, and 
an excellent scholar. Such was his reputation for science, that he 
was elected a fellow of the royal society. He was polite and affable^ 
compassionate and charitable. Having a large estate, he distributed 
of his abui>dancc with a liberal hand ; but his charities were secret 
and silent. His pacific spirit and his moderation were so conspicuous, 
as to secure to him the respect of all denominations. So remark- 
able was his patience under injuries, and such a use did he make 
of the troubles of life, that he was heard to observe, that he knew 
not how he could have spared any of his trials. Uniting courage 
Avith his humility, he was neither bribed by the favor, nor overawed 
by the displeasure of any man. He was a man of great learning 
and abilities, and at once a philosopher and a divine. But he 
placed neither learning nor religion in unprofitable specula- 
tions, but in such solid and substantial truth, as improves the mind 
and is beneficial to the world. The promotion of religion, learning, 
virtue, and peace every where within his reach was the great ob- 
ject, in which he was constantly employed. As he possessed great 
pencft-ation and a sound judgment, his counsel was often sought and 
highly respected. Such was his repard to the interests of litera- 
ture, that he bequeathed to Harvard college two hundred and fifty- 
pounds, besides a much greater sum in othtv cl\antable and pious 
legacies. With regard to his manner of preaching, Dr. Colman^i 



BRA. 107 

comparing him and the reverend Mr. Pemberton, who died about, 
the same time, observes ; " they performed the public exercises in 
the house of God with a great deal of solemnity, though in a 
manner soiriewhat different ; for Mr. Brattle was all caim, and 
soft, and melting ; but Mr. Pemberton was all flame, and zeal, and 
(earnestness." The death of this good man, after a languishing 
disease, was peaceful and serene. 

He published a system of logic, entitled, " compendium logicae 
secundum principia D. Renati Cartesii plerumque efibrniatum et 
catechistice propositum." It waa held in high estimation, and 
long recited at Harvard college. An edition ot it was published 
in the year 17 5S. —Holmea' hist. Cambridge ; Collections hist. soc. 
vii. 32, 55 — 59 J X. 168 ; Holmes' annals, ii. 94; Boston ncius lett'eri 
.Vo.67I. 

BRATTLE (William), n man of extraordinary talents and 
character, was the son of the reverend William Brattle, end was 
graduated at Harvard college in 1722. He was a representative 
of Cambridge in the general court, and was long a member of the 
council. He studied theology and preached with acceptance. His 
eminence as a lawyer drew around him an abundance of clients. 
As a physician his practice was extensive and celebrated. He was 
also a military man, and obtained the appointment of major 
general of the militia- Wliile he secured the favor of the gover* 
jior of the state, he also ingratiated himself with the people. In 
Iiis conduct there were many eccentricities. At the commence- 
ment of the American revolution an vmhappy sympathy in the 
plans of general Gage induced him to retire into Boston, from 
which place he accompanied the troops to Halifax, where he died 
in October 1776. His son, the late Thomas Brattle, esquire, of 
Cambridge, died Feb. 7, 1801. — Collections hist. soc. vii. 58. 

BREARLEY (David), chief justice of the stite of New Jersey, 
was graduated at Princeton college in 1781. He was a member 
of the convention in 1787 for framing the constitution of the 
United States, and his name is affixed to that charter of our liber- 
ties. In 1789 he was appointed by Washington a judge of the 
federal court for the district of New Jersey. His death took place 
in August 1790 at his seat near Trenton. Robert Morris w^s ap- 
pointed to succeed him as district judge. 

BRECK (Robert), minister of Marlborough, Massachusetts, 
was born in Dorchester in 1682, and was graduated at Harvard 
college in 1700. He was ordained October 25, 1704. After a 
ministry of twenty six years, he departed this life January 6, 1731, 
in the forty ninth year of liis age. He was eminent for his ac» 
quaintance with the Hebrew.language. He published an election ser- 
mon, 1728 ; the danger of falling away, after a profession raade^ 
1728 ; and a sermon on a sacramental occasion, ]728 .•^—Collections 
^'nstorical society, ix. 184 ; x. 170. 



108 BRE. 

BRECK (Robert), minister of Sprinpjficid, Massachusetts, 
was the son ot the reverend Mr. Breck ot Marlborough, and was 
graduated at Harvard college in 1730. He was ordained January 
27, 1736. After a ministry of forty eight years he died April 23, 
1784, in the seventy first year of his age. 

His superior intellectual powers were enlarged by an extensive 
acquaintance with men and books. He accustomed himself to a 
close uianncr of thinking and reasoiiing. By diligent application 
he acquired a rich fund of the most useful knowledge. His dis- 
position wai remarkably cheerful and pleasant, and his conversation 
was entertaining and instructive, sometimes enlivened by humor, 
but always consistent with the sobriety of the christian and the dig- 
nity ot tiie minister. He was easy of access, hospitable, compas- 
sionate and benevolent. His sense of human weakness and de- 
pravity led him to admire the gracious provision of the gospel, and 
he delighted to dwell upon it in his pul^lic discourses. 

His religious sentiments he formeii on a careful examination of 
the scriptures. St:c:idy to his own principles, he was yet candid to- 
wards those, who differed from him. In his last illness he spoke 
in the humblest terms of himself, but professed an entire reliance 
on divine mercy through the Mediator, and he resigned himself 
to death with the dignity of a christian. He publised a century 
sermon, preached at Springfield, wnich contains an historical ac- 
count of the town. — Laf hrofi' s funcrcii .sermon. 

BRECKEN RIDGE (John), attorney general of the United 
States, died at Lexington, Kentucky, December 14, 1806. He 
was elected a member of the senate in the place of Mr. Humphrey 
Marshall, and took his seat in 1801. In January 1802 he submit- 
ted in the senate a resolution to repeal an act of the preceding ses- 
sion respecting the judiciary estaljlishment of the United States, 
by which sixteen new circuit judges had been created. It was this 
resolution, which called forth the most astonishing powers of argu- 
ment and eloquence. In 1803 Mr. Breckenridge distinguished 
himself by suppoi ting resolutions in relation to Spanish affairs of 
a milder complexion, than those advocated by Mr. Ross. After 
the resignation of Mr. Lincoln of Massachusetts, he was appointed 
attorney general in his place. 

BREWSTE'^ (William), one of the first settlers of Plymouth 
colony, and a rujing elder of the church, w.'.s l>orn in England in 
the year 1560, and was educated at the university of Cambridge, 
where his mind was impressed by religious truth, and he was re- 
newed by the Spjiit of God. After completing his education, he 
entered into the service of Willi -.m Davison, ambassador of queen 
Elizabeth in Holland. This gentleman, who was friendly to relig- 
ion, possessed the highest regard for Mr. Brewster, and reposed 
in him the utmost confidence. He esteemed him as a son. Mr. 
Brewster in rcttini proved himself nqt unworthy of the friendship, 



BRE. 109 

%vhich he had experienced ; for when Davison, who had been ap- 
pointed secretary of state, incurred the affected displeasure of the 
queen for drawing, in compiitince with her orders, the warrant for 
the execution of Mary, he did not forsake his patron. He remain- 
ed with him, and gave him what assistance it was in his power to 
aftbrd, under the troubles, with which it was the policy of Elizabeth 
to overwhelm the innocent secretary ir. the year 1587. \\ hen he 
could no longer serve him, he retired to the north of England, among 
his oia friends. 

His attention was now chiefly occupied by the interests of reli- 
gion. His life was exemplary, and it seemed to be his great object 
to promote the highest good of those around him. He endeavored 
to excite their zeal for holiness, and to encourage them in the prac- 
tice of the christian virtues. As he possessed considerable property, 
he readily and abundantly contributed tov/ards the support of the 
gospel. He exerted himself to procure faithful preachers for the 
parishes in the neighborhood. By degrees he became disgusted 
with the ianpositions of the prelatical party, and their severity to- 
Avards men of a moderate and peaceable disposition. As he discover- 
ed much corruption in the constitution, forms, ceremonies, and dis- 
cipline of the established church, he thought it his duty to with- 
draw from its communion, and to establish with others a separate 
society. This new church, under the pastoral care of the aged Mr. 
Clifton and Mr. Robinson, met on the Lord's days at Mr. Brew- 
ster's house, where they were entertained at his expense, as long 
as they could assemble without interruption. When at length the 
resentment of the hierarchy obliged them to seek refuge in a for- 
eign country, he was the most forward to assist in the removal. He 
was seized with Mr. Bradford in the attempt to go over to Holland 
in 1607, and was imprisoned at Boston, in Lincolnshire. He was 
the greatest sufferer of the company, because he had the most prop- 
erty. Having with much difficulty and expense obtained his liber- 
ty, he first assisted the poor of the society in their embarkation, and 
then followed them to Holland. 

He had a large family and numerous dependents ; and his estate 
was exhausted. As his education had not fitted him for mechan- 
ical or mercantile employments, he wms now pressed with hard- 
ships. In this exigency he found a resource in his learning and 
abilities. He opened a school at Leyden for instructing the youth 
of the city and of the university in the English tongue ; and being 
familiar with the Latin, with whicli they were also acquainted, he 
found no impediment from the want of a language common to both. 
By means of a grammar, which he formed himself, he soon assisted 
them to a correct knowledge of the English. By the help of some 
friends he also set up a printing press, and published several books 
against the hierarchy, w^hicli could not obtain a license for publica- 
tion in England, 



dlO BRE. 

Such was hi« reputation in the church at Leyden, that he was 
chosen a rulinjj elder, and he accompanied the members of it, who 
came to New Entjland in 1620. He suffered with them all the 
hardships, attending the settlement in their wilderness. He partook 
■with them of labor, hunger, and watching ; and his bible and his 
sword were equally familiar to him. As the church at Plymouth 
•was for several years destitute of a minister, Mr. Brewster, who 
was venerable for his character and years, frequently officiated as a 
preacher, though he could never be persuaded to administer the sa- 
craments. According to the principles of the church, the ruling 
elder, in the absence of the teaching elder or pastor, was permitted 
to dispense the word. No regular minister was procured before the 
year 1 629, when Mr. Ralph Smith was settled. Previously to this 
•period, the principal care of the church rested upon Mr. Brewster, 
who preached twice every Lord's day ; and afterwards he occasion- 
ally exercised for the good of the church his talents in teaching. 
He died in the peace and hope of the christian April 16, 1644, in 
tlie eighty fourth year of his age. 

Through his whole life he was remarkably temperate. He drank 
nothing but water, until within the last five or six years. During 
the famine, which was experienced in the colony, he was resigned 
and cheerful. When nothing l)ut oysters and clams were set on 
his table, he would give thanks with his family, that they were per- 
mitted " to suck of the abundance of the seas, and of the treasures 
hid in the sand." He was social and pleasant in conversation, of 
a humble and modest spirit, yet when occasion required, coura- 
geous in administering reproof, though with such tenderness, as 
usually to give no offence. He was conspicuous for his compas- 
sion towards the distressed ; and if they were suffering for con- 
science sake, he judged them, of all others, most deserving of 
pity and relief. He had a pecidiar abhorrence of pride. In the 
government of the church he was careful to preserve order and 
the purity of doctrine and communion, and to suppress contention. 
He was eminent for piety. In his public prayers he was full and 
comprehensive, making confession of sin with deep hunulity, and 
supplicating with fervor the divine mercy through the mei'its of 
Jesus Christ, Yet he avoided a tedious prolixity, lest he should 
damp the spirit of devotion. In his discourses he was clear and 
distinguishing, as well as pathetic ; and it pleased God to give 
him uncommon success, so that many were converted by his min- 
istry. At his death he left what was called an excellent library. 
It was valued at forty three pounds in silver, and a catalogue of the 
books is preserved in the colony records. ** 

The church at Plymouth, of which Mr. Brewster was ruling 
elder, was peculiar for the liberty of" prophesying," or preaching, 
•which was allowed even to such private members, as were " gift- 
ed." When governor Winthrop visited Plymouth in 1 632, ia the 



afternoon's exercise of the Lord's day a question, according to 
custom, was propounded, upon which a number of the congrega- 
tion expressed their opinions, and the governor of Massachusetts, 
being requested, " spoke to it" with the rest. " The preachments 
of the gifted brethren," says Dr. Mather, " produced those dis** 
couragements to the ministers, that almost all left the colony, ap- 
prehending themselves driven away by the neglect and contempt,* 
with which the people on this occasion treated them." This 
church admitted none to its comnaunion without either a written 
or oral declaration of their faith and religious experiences. The- 
scriptures were not read in public, nor was the psalm before sing- 
ing till in compassion to a brother, who could not read, one of the 
elders or deacons was permitted to read it line by line, after it 
had been previously expounded by the minister. No children* 
were baptized, unless one of the parents was in full communiony 
and baptized children were considered as subjects of ecclesiastical' 
discipline. While in Holland the Lord's supper was administered' 
every sabbath ; but it was omitted in America till a minister was 
obtained, and then it was administered only once in a month.—- 
Belknap's Amer. biog. ii. 252 — 266 ; Cvllect, hist. soc. iv. 108, 115 
— 117; Morton^ 153; MaVa Mvt England^ i. 231 ; JVinthro/t, 
44 ; Magnalia^ i. 14 ; Prince^ 89. 

BRIANT (Solomon), minister of the church at'Marshpee in 
Barnstable, Massachusetts, was ordained not long after the re-" 
signatioii of Mr. Bourne in 1742. He was an Indian, and he preach- 
ed to his brethren in the Indian dialect. He was a sensible man 
and good minister. After his death, which took place May 8, 1775,; 
when he was about eighty years of age, he was succeeded by the 
reverend Mr. Yi^\i\e.y.— Col! ections hist. soaVjfy, iii, 191. 

BRIDGE (Thomas), minister of the first church in Boston, 
was graduated at Harvard college in 1675, and was ordained col- 
league with the reverend Mr. Wadsworth May 10, 1705. He died 
suddenly of an apoplexy Septe"mber26, 17 15, aged fifty eight years. 
He was eminent for his christian virtues. While he was upright 
in his dealings, and incapable of fraud and deceit, he was also meek 
and mild ; his heart was kind ; and he was humble and devout. He 
was habitually serious. Though his talents were not conspicuous, 
yet his thoughts were always expressed in suitable and manly lan- 
guage. In prayer he was emment. His intimate acquaintance 
with the scriptures, and the devotional frame of his mind rendered 
his supplications to the throne of grace very solemn and interesting. 
While he was himself exceedingly desirous of doing good, free from 
every particle of envy, he sincerely rejoiced in the usefulness and 
respectability of others. He was not desirous of honor, and so 
humble was the opinion, which he had formed of himself, that the 
expression of his humility sometimes put to the blush those, who 
were younq;er- and more desirous of distinction. He was diligent 



112 BRI. 

in study, but his bible was his library. To this book he devoted 
his attention, and he became well acquainted with its important 
truths. Such was his moderation, so ijreatly was he desirous of 
peace, that it was thought he was sometimes silent when he ought 
to have spoken, and that he yielded too much to others. 

He published an artillery election sermon, 1705, and a sermon 
on choosing good town officers, \7\0.—^Colman* a funeral sermon ; 
Collections historical socictij, iii. 257. 

BRIGHT (Francis), first minister in Charlestown, Massachu- 
setts, was a pupil of the famous Mr. Davenport. He arrived at 
Naumkeag, or Salem, in June 1629, in company with Mr. SkeltoR 
and Mr. Higginson. Disagreeing in judgment with his two breth- 
ren, he removed to Charlestown. After tarrying here a little more 
than a year and finding, that tlie people were disposed to carry the 
reformation to a greater length, than he thought was necessary, 
he returned to England in 1630. He was succeeded by Mr. Wil- 
son. — 'Morse and Parish's Jf. E?ig/a7id, 74.- ; Morton, 82 ; Prince, 
184, 188. 

BRIMSMEAD (William), first minister of Marlborough, 
Massachusetts, was educated at Harvard college, but never receiv- 
ed a degree. He with others of his class, being displeased with a 
vote of the corporation, requiring the students to reside four years at 
Cambridge instead of three, left the institulion in 1 647. He was 
first employed as a preacher at Plymouth, and afterwards went to 
Marlborough, where he preached so early as September 20, 1660, 
though he was not ordained till October 3, 1666. He died July 3,. 
1701, and was succeeded by the reveiend Mr. Breck. He was nev- 
er married. He is represented as a well accomplished servant of 
Christ. Tradition says, that he uniformly refused baptism to chil- 
dren, who were born on the sabbath. He published the election 
sermon, 1681. — Collections hist, society, iv. 47, 122 j ix. 179 j 
X. 89. 

BROCK (John), minister of Reading, Massachusetts, was 
born in England in 1 620, and was distinguished for early piety. 
He came to this country about the year 1637. He was graduated 
«t Harvard college in 1646, and after residing there two years 
longer, engaged in preaching the gospel, first at Rowley, and then 
at the isle ot Shoals. He continued at this la^t place till 1662, 
when he removed to Raiding, as successor of the reverend Mr. 
Hough, though he was not ordained before November 13, 1668. 
Here he ministered in holy things till his death June 18, 1688, in 
the sixty eighth year of his age. He was succeeded by the rev- 
erend Mr. Pierpont. 

Mr. Brock was an eminent chiislian, and a laborious, fiiithful 
minister, preaching not only on the sabbuh, but frequently on oth- 
er days. He establishc' lectures for young persons, iuul for the 
members of the church. He often made pastoral visits, and they were 



BRO. 113 

endered very useful by his happy talents in conversation. He was 
so remarkable ior holiness and devotion, that it was said of him by 
the celebrated Mr. xVcitchcl, " he dwells as near heaven, as any man 
upon earth." He was lull of faith and of the Holy Ghost. Several 
remurkable stories are related of the efficacy of his prayers, in 
which he frequently had a particular faith, or an assurance of be- 
ing heard. When he lived at the isle of Shoals, he persuaded the 
people to enter into an agreement to spend one day in every month, 
besides the sabbaths, in the worship oi the Lord Jesus Christ. On 
one of these days the fishermen, who composed his society, desir- 
ed him to put off the meeting, as the roughness of the weather had 
for a number of days prevented them from attending to their usual 
employment. He endeavored in vain to convince them of the impro- 
priety of their request. As most of them were determined to seize the 
opportunity for making up their lost time, and were more interested in 
their worldly than in their spiritual concerns, he addressed them 
thus ; " if you are resolved to neglect your duty to God, and will 
go away, I say unto you, catch fish if you can ; but as for you, who 
will tarry and worship the Lord Jesus Christ, I will pray unto him for 
you, that you may catch fish till you are weary." Of thirty five men 
only five remxained with the minister. The thirty, who went from 
the meeting, with all their skill caught throu^ the whole day but 
four fishes ; while the five, who attended divine service, afterwards 
went out and caught five hundred. From this time the fishermen 
readily attended all the meetings, which Mr. Brock appointed. 

A poor man, who had been very useful with his boat in carrying 
persons, who attended public worship, over a river, lost his boat in 
a storm, and lamented his loss to his minister. Mr. Brock said to 
him, "go home, honest man, I will mention the matter to the Lord; 
you will have your boat again tomorrow." The next day, in an- 
swer to earnest prayer,, the poor man recovered his boat, which 
was brought up from the bottom by the anchor of a vessel, cast up- 
on it without design. A number of such remarkable correspon- 
dences between the events of providence and the prayers of Mr. 
Brock caused Mr. John Allen of Dedham to say of him, " I scarce 
ever knew any man so familiar with the great God, as his dear ser- 
vant Brock." — Mathrr's mag77alia, IV. 141 — 143; Collect, hist, so- 
ciety, vii. 251 — 254 ; Stone^ a funeral sermon on Prentiss ; Fitch*8 
sermon at the ordi?iation of Tucke. 

BROMFIELD (Edward), an eminent merchant in Boston, 
was born in November 1695. His mother was the eldest daugh- 
ter of the reverend Mr. Danforth of Roxbury. By means of her 
instructions and the instructions of liis grandmother, a daughter of 
the reverend Mr. Wilson of Boston, his mind in early life was deeply 
impressed by religious truth. His whole life was conscientious, 
upright, and holy. He filled several i\nportant trusts, and with 
incorruptible integrity sought the public good. He was a rep-- 
1-5 



114 BRO. 

resentative of his native town in the general court trom the year 
1739 to 1743 ; and he would have been continued, as colleague 
with his brother in law, the honorable Thomas Gushing, but he pre- 
ferred the humbler station of overseer of the poor, in which office 
he remained twenty one years successively. He died z\pril 10, 
1756, in the si.vty tirst year of his age. He was eminent for his 
christian virtues. In his intercourse with others he was open, 
friendly, pleasant, and remaikable for candor. Attached to the an- 
cient pi inciples of New England, he loved the most zealous and 
awakening ministers ; he worshipped the Most High in his fami- 
ly ; he partook of the supper of his Lord and Muster with the 
humblest reverence and the most ardent gratitude and love. In 
his last sickness so deep was the sense of his unworthiness and guilt, 
that he enjoyed little composure till just before his death, when his 
apprehensions were in a great measure removed. In his most des- 
ponding moments he ever justified the ways of God. — Prince's fu- 
neral sermon ; Boston gazette^ Afiril 19, 1756. 

BROMFIELD (Edward), a young man of uncommon genius, was 
the son of the preceding, and was born in Boston in 1723. He was 
graduated at Harvard college in 1742, He lived but a short time 
to display his virtues and his talents, for he died August 18, 1746, 
aged twenty three yiears. From his childhood he was very amia- 
ble and modest. As he grew up, the powers of his mind were un- 
folded, and he discovered remarkable ingenuity and penetration, 
which were strengthened and increased, as he became acquainted 
with mathematical science. His genius first appeared in the use 
of the pen, by which with admirable exactness he sketched the ob- 
jects of nature. He made himself so familiar with Weston's short 
hand, that he was able to take down every word of the professor's 
lectures at the college, and the sermons, which were delivered 
from the pulpit. He was skilful in projecting maps. As he was 
well skilled in music, he for exercise and recreation made with his 
own hands an excellent organ, with two rows of keys and several 
hundred pipes. The workmansliip exceeded any thing of the kind, 
which had been imported from England. He took peculiar pleas- 
ure in pursuits, which related to natural philosophy, for he wished 
to behold the wisdom of God in his works. He made great im- 
provement in the microscopes, which were then used, most accu- 
rately grinding the finest glasses, and multiplying to an astonishing 
degree the powers of optical instruments. He met with no me- 
chanism, which he did not readily improve. But these were only 
the amusements of Mr Bromfield. He was engaged in the pur- 
suit of higher and more interesting objects, than those, which had 
reference only to this earth and could occupy the mind but a few 
days. Though from childhood he possessed the virtues, which en- 
deared him to his acquaintance ; yet it was not before he reached 
the age of seventeen, that he was converted by the influence of the 



BUO. 115 

divine Spirit from his natural stale of selfishness and iniquity to the 
supreme love of his Maker. ¥rom this period the truti.s oi reve- 
lation claimed his intense study, and it w^as his constant aim to con- 
form his life to the requisitions of the gospel. Nothing interested 
him so much, as the character of Jesus Christ and the wonders of 
redemption, which he hoped would excite his admiration in the fu- 
ture world, and constitute his everlasting blessedness. He left be- 
hind him a number of manuscripts, which contained his pious med- 
itations, and marked his progress towards perfection. Ihough his 
body was feeble, his soul was indefatigable. In his eyes there was 
an expression of intellect, which could not be mistaken. Hud his 
life been spared, his name might have been an honor to his coun- 
try, and philosophy might have been dignified by a connexion with 
genuine religion.— Pnwce's account of Brotnjield ; PanopUsty ii. 
193—197. 

BROOKS (Eleazar), a brigadier general in the late war, was 
horn in Concord, Massachusetts, in 1726. Without the advantages 
of education he acquired a valuable fund ol knowledge. It was 
his practice in early life to read the most approved books, and then 
to converse with the most intelligent men respecting them. In 
1774 he was chosen a representauve to the general court and con- 
tinued twenty seven years in public life, being successively a rep- 
resentative, a member of the senate, dnd oi the council. He took a 
decided part in the American revolution. At the head of a regi- 
ment he was engaged in the battle at White Plains in 1776, and 
in the second action near Stillwater October 7, 1777, and dis- 
tinguished himself by his cool, determined bravery. From the 
year 1801 he secluded himself in the tranquil scenes of domestic life. 
He died at Lincoln, Massachusetts, November 9, 1806, aged eighty 
years. 

General Brooks possessed an uncommonly strong and penetra- 
ting mind, and his judgment as a statesuian was treated with re- 
spect. He was diligent and industrious, slow in concerting, but 
expeditious in performing his plans. He was a firm believer in the 
doctrines of Christianity and in his advanced years accepted the of- 
fice of deacon in the church at Lincoln. This office he ranked 
above all others, which he liad sustained in life. — Steams'' fun. sev' 
mon ; Colu7nf:ian centinel, J\''ove?nber 22, 1806; Marshall, iii. 284. 

BROWN (Nicholas), an eminent merchant of Rhode Island, 
died at Providence May 29, 1791, in the sixty second year his age. 
From early youth his attention had been directed to mercantile 
pursuits, and by the divine blessing upon his diligence and upright- 
ness he acquired a very ample fortune. But although he was rich 
he did not make an idol of his wealth. His heart was liberal, iiiul 
he listened to every call of humanity or science. The interests of 
government, of learning, of religion were dear to him. He loved 
his country, and rejoiced in her freedom. The public buikUntrs in 



116 BRO. 

providence, sacred to religion and science, are monuments of his 
liberality. He was an early and constant patron of the college. 
In his religious principles he was a baptist, and he was a lover of 
good men of all denominations. He was not ashamed of the gos- 
pel, nor of the poorest of the true disciples of ihc Redeemer. His 
general knowledge and the fruitfulness of his invention furnished 
him with inexhaustible funds of entertaining conversation — Utill- 
man'syuncrul aermon ; Providence f^azette. 

BROWN (Andrew), editor of the Philadelphia gazette, was 
bom in Ireland about the year 1744. He came to America in 1773 
as a soldier in a British regiment ; but he quitted the service and 
settled in Massachusetts, He engaged in the American cause at 
the commencement of the war, and displayed great courage in the 
battles of Le\ington and Bunker's hill. He was also a useful ofri- 
cer in the northern army uniler general Gates. At the close of 
the war he established an academy for young ladies in Lancaster, 
Pennsylvania, on a very liberal and extensive plan. He afterwards 
removed to Philadelphia, where he pursued the same object ; but 
as his employment did not well accord with a very irritable temper, 
he relmquished it. He now established the Federal gazette, the first 
number of which was published October 1, 1788. The present gov- 
ernment of the United States had not then commcnccvl, and his paper 
was the channel, through which some of the most intelligent friends of 
the constitution addressed the public. He pursued his task with inde- 
fatigable industry ; but difficulties pressed upon him, and he seemed to 
have little prospect of deriving much pecuniary advantage from his 
paper, before the city was visited with the yellow fever in 1793. 
As ho remained in Philadelphia during the ravages of the pesti- 
lerice, and continued his gazette, when the other daily papers were 
suspended, he derived from this circumstance an increase of pat-, 
ronage, which at length rewarded his labors. His exertions were 
not relaxed through his success ; but, changing the name of his 
paper to that of the Phihdelphia gazette, and resolving, that it 
should not be devoted exclusively to any political sect, but should 
be open to discussions from every side, he made it a correct vehi- 
cle of important intelligence. The profits of his establishment 
were now great, and he ■was in the midst of prosperity, when it 
pleased (jod to overwhelm him with ruin. His house took fire by 
means of his oflice, which was in one part of it, January 27, 1797, 
and in an unsuccessful attempt to rescue his family from the flames, 
he was so much burned that he survived but a few days. HisAvife 
and three children were the next day committed to a common 
grave, and the next Saturday, February 4, 1797, his spirit followed 
them into another world. The only survivor of the family was a 
son, born in Ireland of a former wife, who bccaine one of the pro* 
prietors of the gazette, after the death of his father.— -//«;-c/iV« bio^ 
t^ra/ihical dictionary s Monthly moifaziTie/or 1797, 71, 73. 



BRG. in 

BROWN (Moses), a brave officer in the navy of the United 
States, died in December 1803, aged sixty two years. Durijng the 
last forty eight years of his life he followed the profession of a mar- 
iner. In the revolutionary war his reputation gained him the com- 
mand of several of the largest private armed ships from New Eng- 
land. In these stations he was zealous, brave, and successful. He 
was engaged in several severe battles with the enemy, and distin- 
guished himself particularly in one with a ship oi superior force. 
When the small American navy was establishing a number of 
years after the war, the merchants of Newbuiyport built a ship by 
subscription for the governmeut, and obtained the command of her 
for captain Brown. His advanced age had not impaired his skill, 
nor deprived him of his zeal and activity. While he commanded 
the Menimac he was as enterprising and successful as formerly. 
When the reduction of the navy took place, he was dismissed from 
office ; but his finances did not allow him to retire from business, 
and he followed till his de.ith his accustomed avocation.— •.A'ew ii.>i^- 
land rejiertory^ Jan. 14, 1804, 

BROWNE (Arthur), an episcopal clergyman at Portsmouth, 
New Hampshire, was a native of Drogheda in Ireland, and was the 
son of the reverend John Browne. He was educated at Trinity col- 
lege in Dublin, and received the degree of master of arts July 29, 
1729. Being ordained by the bishop of London for a society in 
Providence, Rhode Island, he went to that place, and remained 
there till the year 1736, when he removed to Portsmouth, He 
was the first encumbent of the church, which was consecrated in 
1734, and is now called saint John's church. He received a salary 
as missionary from the society for propagating the gospel in foreign 
parts, and continued in this station till his death in 1773, having 
just entered the seventy fourth yeav" of his age. He is represented 
as having been conspicuous for a benevolent disposition, good ora- 
tory, and excellent preaching. His son, Marmaduke Browne, was 
oorn in Providence, and after being educated at Trinity college, Dub- 
lin, and ordained by the bishop of London, settled at Newport, 
Rhode Island, where he died about the year 1771. 

Mr. Bi'owne of Portsmouth published a sermon on the day ap- 
pointed for the execution of Penelope Kenny, 1739 ; a sermon on 
the rebellion in Scotland, 1746 ; a sermon to the free masons, 1748 ; 
a fast sermon, 1757 ; a sermon on the doctrine of election, 1757. 
He is supposed to have written also remarks on Dr. Maybew's in- 
cidental reflections, 1763. dlden's account of religioua societies iti 

Portsmouth ; Coll. hist. soc. x. 57, 58, 70, 

BROWNE (Abthur, ll.d.), king's professor of Greek in 
Trinity college, Dublin, and an eminent political character in Ire* 
land, was the son of the reverend Marmaduke BroAvne, rector of 
Trinity church, Newport, Rhode Island. He enjoyed in early life 
the advantages of a school, established in Newport by dean Eerke- 



118 BRY. 

ley, and was distinguished by his talents, industry, and siiong desire 
of improving his education in some European university. To 
gratify this desire his father went to Ireland to make provision for 
entering his son at Trinity college ; but alter having eflected his 
object, he died soon after his return, in consequence of his suflcr- 
ings during a tedious voyage of three months. This melancholy 
event frustrated the hopes of young Browne, who, despairing of the 
advantages of an European ed\ication, entered Harvard college in 1 77 1 . 
He remained however but ashort time at Cambridge ; for some friends 
of his father and the society for propagating the gospel in foreign 
parts soon afforded him such patronage, that he embarked for Ire- 
land, where he was educated according to his desire. He continu- 
ed during the remainder of his life connected with Trinity college, 
and was the idol of the students. For a length of time he held the 
vicar generalship of the diocese of Kildare, and practised in the 
courts as an eminent barrister. He was also professor of civil law 
in the university, and its representative in the Irish house of com- 
mons. He died in the year 1805. 

Dr. Browne was blessed with great powers of mind, which he 
improved by incessant study and by intercourse with the most dis- 
tinguished scholars and the most able and virtuous statesmen of his 
day. From every field, where improvement might be found, he 
reaped a noble jwrtion. His political life was marked by his zeal- 
ous efforts to protect the liberty of the subjects against the encroach- 
inents of power and oppression. He was an associate of the oppo- 
sition, and supported their leading measures. He was always a 
champion of the people. Shortly after the union of Ireland with 
Great Britain, he was appointed prime sergeant. He published a 
compendious view of civil law, being the substance of a course of 
lectures read in the university of Dublin, together with a sketch of 
the practice of the ecclesiastical courts, and some useful directions 
for the clergy ; Hussen O'Dil, or beauty and the heart, an allegoric- 
al poem, translated from the Persian language ; and miscellaneous 
sketches, in 2 volumes, 8vo. This last work is written after the 
manner of Montaigne. — Monthly mjthology^ ii. 559 — 562. 

BRYAN (George), a judge of the supreme court of Pennsyl- 
vania, was a native of Dublin in Ireland, and was the eldest son of an 
ancient and respectable family. He came to this coimtry in early 
life, and lived forty years in Philadelphia. At first he eniragcd ex- 
tensively in commercial business ; but it pleased the wise Disposer 
of events to defeat his plans, and reduce him to a state of compara- 
tive poverty. He afterwards lived more in accordance with ancient 
simplicity. He was an active and intelligent man. Previously to 
the levoiution he was introduced into public employments. He 
was a delegate to the congress, which met in 1765 for the purpose 
of petitioning and icmonstrating against the arbitary measures of 
Great Britain. In the war, which followed, he took an open and 



BUG. 119 

active part. After the declaration of independence he was vice 
president of the supreme executive council of Pennsylvania, and on 
the death of president Wharton in May 1778 he was placed at the 
head of the government. When his office, by the limitation of the 
constitution, expired in the autumn of 1 779, he was elected a mem- 
ber of the legislature. Here, amidst the tumult of war and inva- 
sion, when every one was trembling for himself, his mind was oc- 
cupied by the claims of humanity and charity. He at this time plan- 
ned and completed an act for the gradual abolition of slavery, which 
is an imperishable monument to his memory. He thus furnished 
evidence, that in opposing the exactions of a foreign power he was 
opposing tyranny, and was really attached to the cause of liberty. 
After this period he was appointed a judge ot the supreme court, 
in which station he continued during the remainder of his life. In 
1784 he was elected one of the coimcil of censors, and was one of 
its principal members till his death, which took place at Philadel- 
phia January 28, 1791. 

Besides the offices already mentioned, judge Bryan filled a variety 
of public, literary, and charitable employments. Formed for a close 
application to study, animated with an ardent* thirst for knowledge, 
and blessed with a memory of wonderful tenacity, and a clear, pene- 
trating, and decisive judgment, he availed himself of the labors and 
acquisitions of others, and brought honor to the stations, which he 
occupied. To his other attainments he added the virtue^ of the 
christian. He was distinguished by his benevolence and sympathy 
with the distressed, by an unaffiicted humility and modesty, by his 
readiness to forgive injuries, and by the inflexible integrity of his 
conduct. He was superior to the frowns and blandishments of the 
world. Thus eminently qualified for the various public offices, in 
which he was placed, he was faithful and humble in discharging their 
duties, and he filled them with dignity and reputation in the worst 
of times, and in the midst of a torrent of unmerited obloquy and op- 
position. Such was his disinterestedness, and his zeal for the 
good of others, that his own interest seemed to be overlooked. In 
the administration of justice he Avas impartial and incorruptible. 
He was an ornament to the profession of Christianity, which he 
made, the delight of his connexions, and a public blessing to the 
state. By his death religion lost an amiable example, and science 
a steady h'iend.—Eiuing's Jiin. ser?non ; yJmerican museum, ix. 81 
— 83 ; Dunlafi's American advertiser. 

BUCKINGHAM (Thomas), minister of the second church in 
Hartford, Connecticut, was graduated at Harvard college in 1690. 
The time of his settlement has not been ascertahied. He died No- 
vember 19, 1731, aged sixty two years. He was one of the most' em- 
inent ministers in Connecticut, and was regarded as one of the pil- 
lars of the church. His superior abilities were under the direction 
of good principles. His conversation was such as was becoming a 



120 BUE. 

minister of Christ. In his life he imitated his blessed Master, and be- 
ing exemplary in piety, having a pie tsant temper, obliging and en- 
gaging manners, and many amiable virtues, he conciliated respect 
and esteem. So well was he qualified for his ministerial work, that 
he would have been highly prized by every orthodox, judicious 
congregation in the land. 

He published a sermon preached at the election in Connecticut 
in 1728, entitled Moses and Aaron. The following passages from 
this sermon will give some view of his sentiments, and of the times. 
" By the Spirit the elect are brought to possess the good, which Je- 
sus Christ hath purchased for them. By him they are convincedi 
awakened, humbled, convei'ted, sanctified, led, and comforted." — 
"If we look back upon the last year, how many appearances 
and indications of his anger were there to be obsen-ed therein ; the 
unusual illuminations of the heavens by repeated and almost dis- 
continued flashes of lightning, with dreadful peals of thiuider attend- 
ing, the scorching heat and drought of the summer, the pinching 
cold and length of the winter, stormy winds and tempests, the death 
of useful men, and the groaning and trembling of the earth under 
our feet." — " Have you not heard some, who have risen fiom among 
you, speaking perverse things, blaspheming the constitution and 
order of your churches, denying the validity of your ordinations, 
and condemning your ministerial acts as so many usurpations, who 
imcliurch the best and greatest part of christians, and leave you with 
the best of your flocks to uncovenanted mercies, that is in a state of 
heathenism, without God and Christ and hope in the world. And 
this merely for the sake of a non-agreement with them in a few un- 
scriptural rites and notions?" — Edivardu' election ser7)ionUn 1732; 
TrumbnW'i Connecticut, i. 498, 519. 

BUELL (Samuel, d. d.), an eminent presbyterian minister on 
Long Island, was born at Coventry in Connecticut, September 1, 
1716, In the seventeenth year of his age, it pleased his merciful 
Father in heaven to renew his heart and teach him those truths, 
which are necessary to salvation. He was impressed with a sense 
of his entire destitution of love to God, ot the incompetency of any 
works, which he could perform, to justify him, of the necessity of a 
Savior, and of his absolute dependence on divine mercy and influ- 
ence. From the depression of mind occasioned by a full conviction 
of hi? sin, and a clear perception of his danger, he was relieved by a 
view of the wonderful plan of redemption by Jesus Christ, and the 
gladness of his heart now v/as proportionate to the thickness of the 
gloom, which before hung over his mind. 

This change in his character produced a change in his plans of 
life. His father was a rich farmer, and he had been destined to ag- 
ricultural pursuits ; but the belief, that it was his duty to engage in 
labprs, which would most advance the interests of rclij!;ion, and to 
extend his usefulness as much as possible, induced him to relinq'iish. 



BUE. 151 

the eiwployments of husbandry and to attend to the cultivation of his 
"mind. He was graduated at Yale college in 1741. While in this 
seminary his application to his studies was intense, and his proficien- 
cy was such as rewarded his toils. It was here that he first became 
acquainted with David Brainerd, with whom he was very intimate, 
till death separated them. Their friendship was the union of 
hearts, attached to the same Redeemer, having the same exalted 
views, and animated by the same spirit. 

It Avas his intention to have spent a number of years with Mr. 
Edwards of Northampton in theological studies, but the extensive 
revival of I'eligion at this period rendering the zealous preaching of 
the truth peculiarly important, he immediately commenced those 
benevolent labors, which occupied and delighted him through tho 
remainder of his life. After being licensed he preached about two 
years in different parts of New England, and such was the pathos 
and energy of his manner, that almost every assembly was melted 
into tears. In November 1 743 he was ordained as an itinerant preach- 
er, in which capacity he was indefatigable and very successful. He 
was the instrument of doing much good, of impressing the thought- 
less, of reforming the vicious, and of imparting to the selfish and 
worldly the genuine principles of benevolence and godliness. Car- 
rying with him testimonials from respectable ministers, he was ad- 
mitted into many pulpits, from which other itinerants were exclud- 
ed. While he disapproved of the imprudence of some in those 
days, when religious truth was brought home remarkably to the 
heart, he no less reprehended the unreasonable opposition of others 
to the work of God. During this period his health was much im- 
paired, and a severe fit of sickness brought him to the very entrance 
of the grave ; but it pleased God, who holds the lives of all in his 
hand, to restore his health and prolong his usefulness for yet many 
years. 

He was led to East Hampton on Long Island by a direction of 
providence in some respects extraordinary, and was installed pastor 
of the church in that place September 19, 1746. In this retire- 
ment he devoted himself with great ardor to his studies. Though 
he always had a high opinion of the special aid of the Spirit of God 
in preaching, yet he duly estimated the importance of diligent ap- 
plication of mind to the duties of the ministry. For a number of 
years he wrote all his sermons and preached them without notes. 
He was long engaged in writing a work on the prophecies, but the 
publication of Newton's dissertations induced him to relinquish it. 
He sought the acquisition of knowledge, not that he might have the 
Tionor of being reputed a learned man, but that he might increase 
his power of usefulness ; and keeping his great object, that of doing 
good, constantly in view, he never suffered the pleasures of literary 
and theological research to detain him from the field of more ac- 
tive exertion, Hf could not shut himself up in his study, whilr* 
16 



122 BUE. 

immortal sovils in his own congregation or in the neighborhood were 
destitute 01 instruction and were ready to hear the words of eternal 
life. He frequently preached two or thiee times in the course of 
*he week in addition to his stated labors on the sabbatli. For a num- 
ber of the first years ot his mmistry, he seemed to labor without ef- 
fect. His people paid but little attention to the concerns of relig>- 
ion. But in 1764 he witnessed an astonishing change. Almoat 
every individual in the town was deeply impressed, and the inter- 
ests of eternity received that attention, which their transcendent im- 
portance dcinands. He had the happiness at one time of admit- 
ting into his church ninety nine persons, who, he believed, had 
been renewed, and enlightened with correct views of the gospel, 
and inspired with benevolent principles of conduct. In the year* 
1785 and 179 I also he was favored, through the influence of the Ho- 
ly Spirit on the hearts of his hearers, with great success. After 
a life of eminent usefulness he died July 19, 1798, in the eighty 
second year of his age. 

Dr. Buell presents a remarkable instance of disinterested exer- 
tion for the good of others. When Long Island fell into the hands 
of the British in 1776, he remained with his people, and did much 
towards relieving their distresses. As there was at this period but 
one minister within forty miles able to preach, the care of all the 
churches fell upon him. His natural dispwsition inclined him to 
do with his might whatever his hand found to do. He was an ex- 
ample of all the christian virtues. He was attached to literature 
and science, and was the father and patron of Clinton academy in 
East Hampton. His house was the mansion of hospitality. Pos- 
sessing a large fund of instructive and entertaining anecdote, his 
company was pleasing to persons of every age. In no respect was 
he more distinguished, than for a spirit of devotion. He was fully 
convinced of the necessity and efficacy of prayer, and amid the pros- 
perous and afflictive scenes, through Avhich he passed, it was his de- 
light to h 'd intercourse with his Father in heaven. He followed 
two wive and eight children to the grave. On these solemn and 
affecting occ.sions, such was t'le resignation and support imparted 
to hi?"n, that he usually preached himself. 

To his unco^ non .md long continued health, the strict rules of 
temperance, which he observed, without doubt much contributed. 
The day he was eighty years old he rode fourteen miles to preach 
the ,'>;ospel and returned in the evening. In his last hours his mind 
Avas in perfect peace. He had no desire to remain longer absent 
from his Savior. He observed, as the hour of his departure ap- 
proached, th a he felt all his earthly connexions to be dissolved. 
The world, into which he was just entering, absorbed all his 
thoughts ; so that he was unwilling to suffer any interruption of his 
most cheering contemplations from the last attention of his friends. 
While thcv were endeavoring to prolong the dying flame, l»e wouM 



BUL. 123 

f^ut them aside with one hand, while the other was raised towards 
heaven, where his eyes and his soul were fixed. In this happy state 
ot mind he expired. 

He published a narrative of the revival of religion among his peo- 
ple in 1764, and tourteen occasional discourses, which evince the 
vigor of his mind and the ardor of his piety. Among them are fune- 
ral sermons on his daughter, Mrs. Conkling, 1782, and on an only 
son, named Samuel, who died of the small pox in 1787. — Con.evav. 
mag. ii. 14,7 — rlsl, 179 — 182; Daggett's funeral sermon. 

BULKLEY (Peter), first minister of Concord, Massachu- 
setts, was bom at Woodhill in Bedfordshire, England, January 31, 
J 583. He was educated at St. John's in Cambridge and was fellow 
of the college. He had a gentleman's estate left him by his father, 
the revex'end Dr. Bulkley of Woodhill, v/hom he succeeded in the 
ministry. For twenty one years he continued his faithtul labors 
without interruption ; but at length, being silenced for nonconform* 
ity to some of the ceremonies of tne English church, he came to 
New England in 1633, that he might enjoy liberty of conscience. 
After residing some time at Cambridge, he began the settlement 
of Concord in 1 636 with a number of planters, who had accompanied 
him from England. He formed the twelfth church, which had 
been established in the colony, and in 1637 was constituted its teach- 
er and Mr. Jones its pa&tor. He died in this town March 9, 1659, 
in the seventy seventh year of his age. He was succeeded by his 
son Edward. 

Mr. Bulkley was remarkable for his benevolence. He expended 
a large estate by giving farms to his servants, whom he employed 
in husbandry. It was his custom, when a servant had lived with him 
a certain number of years, to dismiss him, giving Mm a piece of land 
for a farm, and to take another in his place. He was familiar 
and pleasant in his manners, ihough while subject to bodily paine 
he was somewhat irritable, and in preaching was at times consider- 
ed as severe. So strict was his own virtue, that he could not spare 
some follies, which were thought too inconsiderable to be noticed 
In consequence of his pressing importunately some charitable 
work, contrary to the wishes of the ruling elder, an unhappy divisi- 
ion was produced in the church ; but it was healed by the advice of 
a council and the abdication of the elder. By means of this troub- 
lesome affair, Mr. Bulkley would say, that he knew more of God, 
more of himself, and more of men. He was an excellent scholap, 
and was distinguished for the holiness of his life and his diligent 
attention to the duties of the ministry. He gave a considerable 
part of his library to Harvard college. He was very conscientious 
in his obsei'vation of the sabbath. He was averse to novelty of ap- 
parel, and his hair was always cut close. Such was his zeal to do 
good, that he seldom left any company, without making some seri- 
ous remark, calculated to impress the mind When-through in- 



124 BUL. 

firniity he was iina1)le to teach from house to house, he added to his 
usual labor on the L.ord's day that of catechising and exhorting the 
youth in the presence of the whole assembly. Such was his rep- 
utatioii among the ministers of New England, that he was appoint- 
ed one ot the moderators of the synod of 1637. Mr Hooker was 
the other. By two wives the number of his children was tifteeu ; 
and three of his sons were educated for the ministry. 

He published a work entitled, the gospel covenant or the covenant 
of grace opened, Sec. London, 1646, 4to, pp. 383. This book was 
so much esteemed, that it passed through several editions. It is 
composed of sermons preached at Concord upon Zechariah ix. 11, 
" the biood ot the covenant." Speaking ot this work, Mr. Shep* 
ard of Cambridge s.iys, " the church of God is bound to bless God 
for the hoiy, judicious, and learned labors of this aged, and experi- 
enced, and precious servant of Jesus Christ." Mr. Buikiey also 
wrote Latin poetry, some specimens of which are preset vcd by 
Dr. Mather in his history of New England. — Mather's rna.^na/iay 
ili. 96 — 98 ; J^eaCa J^cw Kngland^ i. 321 ; J\'cinconJormist's memorialy 
last ed. ii. 200 ; Holmes' annalsy'i. 375 ; Collections hist. soc. x. 168 ; 
Rifilry's dedication sermon. 

BULKLEY (John), one of the first graduates of Harvard col- 
lege, was the son of the preceding. He took his degree of A.M. 
in 1642. He afterwards went to England, and settled at Ford- 
liam, where he continued for several years with good acceptance 
and usefulness. After his ejectment in 1662 he went to Wapping 
in the suburbs of London, wheie he practised physic several years 
with success. He was eminent in learning and equally so in piety. 
Though he was not often in his pulpit after his ejectment, he might 
truly be said to preach every day in the week. His whole life was 
a continued sermon. He seldom visited his patients without read- 
ing a lecture of divinity to them, and praying with them. He was 
remarkable for the sweetness of his temper, and his great integrity 
and charitableness ; but what gave a lustre to all his other virtues 
was liis deep humility. He died near the tower in London in 1689 in 
the seventieth year of his age, with unusual tranquillity and resig- 
nation. Noncon/brmist's memorial^ last editioji, ii. 200 ; James* Ju' 

neral sermon. 

BULKLEY (Gershom), an eminent niuuster in Connecticut, 
was the son of the reverend Peter Bulkley of Concord, Massachu- 
set's, and was graduated at Harvard college in 1655. About the 
year 1658 he succeeded Mr. Blinman as minister of New Lon- 
don. Here he continued till about the year 1666, when he became 
pas^o^ of the church in Wethersfield in the place of Mr. Russell, 
who had removed to Hadley. He was succeeded at New London 
by Mr. Bradstreet. Many years before his death he resigned the 
ministry at Wethersfield on account of his infirmities, and Mr. 
Rowlandson of Lancaster, Massachusetts, was received as minister.. 
Mr. Bulkley died in 1713 aged seventy eight years. 



BUL. 125 

He was a man of cUstinclion in his day, and was particularly em- 
inent for his skill iu chemistry. From an inscription upon his 
grave stone, it appears that he was regarded as a man of rare abil- 
ities and extraordinary industry, excellent in learning, master of 
many languages, exquisite in his skill in divinity, physic, and law, 
and of a most exemplary and christian life. — I'rumbuWs Connect., 
i, 310, 324, 483, 519 ; Collections hist, societij,^. 155. 

BULKLEY (John), first minister of Colchester, Connecticut, 
Avas tne son of the reverend Gershom Bulkley. His mother was 
the daughter of president Chauncy. He was graduated at Harvard 
college in 1699, and was ordained December 20, 1703. His death 
took place in June 1731. 

Mr. Bulkley was very distinguished as a scholar. While a 
member of college he and Mr. Dummer, whowas a member of the 
same class, were considered as preeminent in genius and talents. 
The palm was given to the latter for quickness, brilliancy, and wit ;, 
but Mr. Bulkley was regarded as his superior in solidity of judg- 
ment and strength of argument. He carried his researches into the 
various departments of the law, of medicine, and theology. His 
son, John Bulkley, who was also eminent for his learning, possessed 
a high reputation as a physician and lawyer, and when very young 
was appointed a judge of the superior court of Connecticut. 

Mr. Bulkley was classed by the reverend Dr. Chauncy in 1768 
among the three, most eminent for strength of genius and powers 
of mind, which New England had produced. The other two were 
Mr. Jeremiah Dummer and Mr. Thomas Walter. He published an 
election sermon in 1713, entitled, the necessity of religion in soci- 
eties. In 1724 he published an inquiry into the right of the abo- 
riginal natives to the lands in America. This curious treatise has 
within a few years been reprinted in the collections of the histoiicajl 
society of Massachusetts. The author contends, that the Indians 
had no just claims to any lands, but such as they had subdued and 
improved by their own labor, and that the English had a perfect right 
to occupy all other lands without compensation to the natives. He 
published one other tract, entitled, an impartial account of a late de- 
bate at Lyme upon the following points ; whether it be the will of 
God, that the infants of visible believers should be baptised ; wheth- 
er sprinkling be lawful and sufficient ; and whether the present way 
of maintaining ministers by a public rate or tax be lawful, 1729. In 
this he gives some account of the rise of the antipedobaptist persua- 
sion. — Trumbull's Connecticut^ i. 520; Collections hist . soc.iv. l59 j 
X. 155 ; General hist . of Connecticut ^ 173. 

BULL (William, m. d.), a physician, eminent for literature 
and medical science, was the son of the honorable William Bull, 
who was appointed lieutenant governor of South Carolina in 173y 
and died in March 1755, aged seventy two years, Mr. Bull, the 
son, wi'.s the first native of South Carolina, and probably the first 
American, who obtained a degree in medicine. He w?.s a pupil o? 



126 BUR. 

Bocrhaavc, and in 1 754 defended a thesis de colica pictonum before 
the university of Lcyden. He is quoted by Van Swieten as his 
fellow student with the title of the learned Dr. Bull. After his re- 
turn to this country, his services in civil liie were required by his 
fellow citizens. In 1751 he was a memberof the council ; in 1763 
he was speaker of the house of representatives, and in 1764 he was 
lieutenant governor of South Carolina. He was many years in 
this office, and commander in chief. When the British troops 
left South Carolina in 1782 he accompanied them to England, where 
he resided the remainder of his life. He died in London July 4, 
1791, in the eighty second year of his age. — Ramsay's review of 
medicine, 42, 43 ; Miller's re(ros/iec(, i. 317 ; ii. 363 ; Genlleman'a 
magazine, xxv. 236. 

BURGOYNE (John), a British lieutenant general in America, 
Was the natural son of lord Buigley. He entered early into the army, 
and in 1762 had the command of a body of troops sent to Portugal 
for the defence of that kingdon against the Spaniards. After his 
Teturn to England he became a privy counsellor, and was chosen a 
•member of parliament. In the American war he was sent to Cana- 
da in 1775. In the year 1777 he was entrusted with the command 
of the northern army, which should rather have been given to sir 
Guy Carleton, who was much better acquainted with the situation 
of the country. It Avas the object of the campaign of 1777 to open 
a communication between New York and Canada, and thus to sever 
New England from the other states. Burgoyne first proposed to pos- 
sess himself of the fortress of Ticonderoga. With an army of about 
four thousand chosen British troops and three thousand Germans 
he left St. John's on the sixteenth of June, and proceeded up lake 
ChamplaiiH, and landed near Crown Point, where he met the Indians 
and gave them a war feast. He made a speech to them, calculated 
*o secure their friendly cooperation, but designed also to mitigate 
their native ferocity. He endeavored to impress on them the dis- 
tinction between enemies in the field and helpless, luiarmed inhab- 
itants, and promised rewards for prisoners, but none for scalps. 
The attempt to lay some I'estraint upon the mode of w arfare adopted 
hy the savages is honorable to the humanity of Burgoyne ; but it 
may not be easy to justify the connexion with an ally, upon whom it 
was well known no effectual restraints could be laid. He also pub- 
lished on the twenty ninth of June a manifesto, intended to alarm 
the people of the country, through which he was to march, and con- 
cluded it wdth saying, " I trust I shall stand acquitted in the eyes of 
God and man in denouncing and executing the vengeance of the 
atate tgaiast the wilful outcasts. The messengers of justice and 
of wrath await them in the field, and devastation, famine, and every 
concomitaiit horror, that a reluctant but indisjiensable prosecution 
of military duty must occvsion, will bar the wiy to their return." 

On the first of July he proceeded to invest Ticonderoga. where 



BUR. 127 

general St. Clair was stationed with about three thousand effective 
rioik and file, many of whom were without bayonets. The works 
were extensive and incomplete, and required ten thousand men for 
their delence. The British army was larger, thMi had been ex- 
pected. When the investment was almost complete, general St. 
Clair called a council of war, and the immediate evacuaticai of the 
fort was unanimously advised. Preparations for the r-eti'eat were 
accordingly made in the night of the firth of July. Burgoyne the 
next morning engaged in the pursuit, and with the grand division of 
the army in gun boats and two frigates proceeded to the falls of 
Skeensborough ; but meeting with opposition in this place from the 
works, whicJi had been constructed, he returned to South Bay, 
where he landed. He followed the Americans however from 
Skeensborough to fort Edward on the Hudson river, where, after 
conducting his army with incredible labor and fatigue through the 
wilderness, he arrived on the thirtieth of July. Had he returned 
to Ticonderoga, and embarked on lake George, he might easily have 
proceeded to fort George, whence there was a waggon road to fort 
Edward. But he disliked the appearance of a retrograde motioiXi 
though it would have brought lum to the place of his destination 
much sooner and with much less difficulty. On his approach gen- 
eral Schuyler, who had been joined by St. Clair, passed over to the 
west bank of the Hudson, and retreated to Saratoga. Colonel St. 
Legei" had been destined to reach Albany from Canada by a differ- 
ent route. He was to ascend the St. Lawrence to lake Ontario, and 
thence to proceed down the Mohawk. He had accordingly reachetj 
th'ihead of this river, and was investing foit Schuvler,formerly call- 
ed fort Stanwix, when intelligence of his operations Avas brought to 
Burgoyne, wl.o perceived the importance of a rapid movement down 
the Hudson in order to aid him in his project, and to effect the junc- 
tion of the troops. But this intention could not be executed without 
the aid of ox teams, carriages, and provisions. To procure them he 
detached lieutenant colonel Baum with about six hundred men to 
Bennington, a place about twenty four miles to the eastward of Hud- 
son's river, where large supplies were deposited for the northern 
American army. But Baum was defeated at Walloon creek, about 
seven miles from Bennington, on the sixteenth of August, and col- 
onel Breyman, who had advanced to liis assistance with about five- 
hundred men, was obliged to retreat. This was the first check, 
which the northern army received. This disaster was followed in 
a few days by another ; f^r St. Leger, being deserted by his Indian 
allies, who were alarmed by the approach of general Arnold and by 
a report of the defeat of Burgoyne, ^vas obliged to raise the siege of 
fort Schuyler in such haste, that ihe artillery with great part of the 
baggage, ammunition, and provisions fell into the hands of the 
Americans. As he returned immediately to Canada, Burgoyne 
was cut off from the hope of being strengthened by a junction, and 



12S fiUR. 

the American forces were enabled to concentrate themselves in or- 
der to oppose him. General Gates arrived to supersede Schuyler 
and to take the command of the northern American army on the 
nineteenth of Auijust, and his presence, with the recent events, pro- 
cured a vast accession of militia, and inspired them with the hope 
of capturing the whole British army. Burgoyne was p.evented 
from commencing his march by the necessity of transporting pro- 
visions from fort George, and every moment's delay increased the 
difficulty of proceeding. Having thrown a bridge of boats over 
the Hudson, he crossed that river on the thirteenth and fourteenth 
of September, and encamped on the heights and plains of Saratoga. 
Gates immediately advanced towards him, and encamped three 
miles above Stillwater. Burgoyne was not averrse to a battle. He 
accordingly approached, and on the nineteenth a severe engage- 
ment took place. The action commenced at about three o'clock and 
lasted till night, when the Americans under the command of Arnold 
retired to their camp. The loss on the part of the Americans in killed 
and wounded was between three and four hundred. The loss of the 
British was about six hundred. Burgoyne now found, that the ene- 
my, which he had to meet, was able to sustain an attack in open plains 
with the intrepidity and the spirit of veterans. As he had given 
up all communication with the lakes, he now felt the necessity of a 
diversion in his favor by the British army at New York. He accord- 
ingly wrote upon this subject in the most pressing manner to sir 
William Howe and general Clinton ; but no effectual aid was af- 
forded. He was also at this lime deserted by his Indian allies, who 
had been disappointed in their hopes of plunder, and whose enthu- 
siasm was chilled. These hordes of tlie wilderness, of whom in his 
proclamation he boasted, that " he had but to lift his arm and beck- 
on i)y a stretch thereof," and they would execute his vengeance, 
were now " deaf to every consideration of honor, and unmoved by 
any representation made to them of the distress, in which their se- 
cession would involve him." DifBculties thickened around him. 
His army was reduced to about five thousand men, and they were 
limited to half the usual allowance of provisions. As the stock of 
forage was entirely exhausted, his horses were perishing in great 
numbers. The American army was so much augmented, as to 
render him diffulent of making good his retreat. 

In this exigency he resolved toexuminc the possibility of advanc- 
ing, or of dislodging the Americans, and removing them to a great- 
er distance, so as to favor his retreat, if he should be under, the 
necessity of resorting to that melancholy expedient. For this pur- 
pose he detached a body of fifteen hundred men, which he headed 
himself, attended Iiy generals Philips, Reidcsel, and Frazcr. This 
detachment, on the seventh of October, had scarcely formed with- 
in less than half a mile of the American intrenchments, when a fu- 
rious attack was made on its left, by the direction of Gates, who had 



BUR. 129 

perceived the movements of the British. Arnold soon pressed 
luird on the right under Burgoyne, which with the loss of the field 
pieces and great p:ut of the artillery corps retreated to the camp. 
Tiie Araericans follo\yed and assaulted the works throughout their 
whole extent from right to loft. The works were actually forced 
towards the close of the day, and colonel Brooks, who had dislodged 
the German reserve, occupied the ground, which he had gained. 
In this action Burgoync lost a number of his best officers, among 
whom were general Fruzer and colonel Breyman, many privates 
killed, and two hundi'ed taken prisoners, Avith nine pieces of brass 
artiilery and the encampment and cquipjge of the German brigade. 
After the disasters of the day he took advantage of the night to 
change his position, and to secure himself in the strong camp on the 
heights. Apprehensive however of being enclosed on all sides, 
he the next evening commenced his retreat to Saratoga, where he 
arrived on the morning of the tenth. In his mai'challthe dwelling 
houses on his route were reduced to ashes. This movement had been 
foreseen, and a force was already stationed in his rear to be ready to 
cut off" his retreat. No means of extricating himself from difficulty was 
now left him, but to abandon his baggage and artillery, and by ford- 
ing the Hudson to escape to fort George through roads impassable 
by waggons. Of this last resource he Avas deprived by the precau- 
tion of Gates, Avho had posted strong parties at the fords, so that 
they could not be passed Avithout artillery. In this dilemma, when 
his army was reduced to about three thousand five hundred fighting 
men, and there Avas no means of procuring a supply of provisions, 
which Avere almost exhausted, he called a council of Avar, and it Avas 
unanimously agreed to enter into a convention with general Gates. 
The troops of Burgoyne Avere at first required to ground their arms 
in their encampments and yield themselves prisoners of Avar ; but 
this demand v/as immediately rejected, and the American general 
did not think it necessary to insist upon the rigorous terms propos- 
ed. The convention Avas signed on the seventeenth of October, and 
the British army on the same day marched out of their encamp- 
ment with all the honors of Avar. It was stipulated, that they should 
be permitted to embark for England, and should not serve against 
the United States during the war. The whole number ot prisoners 
was five thousand seven hundred and fifty tAvo, Burgoyne's army 
in July consisted of upAvards of nine thousand men. The army of 
Gates, including tAventy five hundred sick, amounted to thirteen 
thousand and tAvo hundred. 

The army of Burgoyne Avas escorted to Cambridge, in Massa- 
chusetts, Avhere it Avas kept till November of the following year, 
Avhen congress directed its removal to ChariotteA'ille in Virginia. 
This detention of the troops Avas through fear, that the convention 
Avould be broken, and until a ratification of it by the court of Great 
Britain. Burgovnc himself had obtained permission to repair to 
' ■ 17 



ISO BUR. 

England on parole, where he arrived in May 1778. He met a very 
cool reception, and was denied admission to the presence of his sove- 
reign, lie was even ordered imniecliatcly to repair to America 
as a prisoner ; but the ill state of his health prevented his compli- 
ance. At length he was permitted to vindicate his character ; soon 
after Avhich he resigned his emoluments from government to the 
amount of upwards of fifteen thousand dollars per annum. 

Towards the close of the year 1781, when a majority of parlia- 
ment seemed resolved to persist in the war, he joined the opposition, 
and advocated a moticm for the discontinuance of the fruitless 
contest. He knew that it was impossible to conquer America. 
" Passion, prejudice, and interest," said he, " may operate suddenly 
and partially ; but when we see one principle pervading the whole 
continent, the Americans resolutely encountering difficulty and 
denth for a course of years, it must be a strong vanity and presump- 
tion in our own minds, which can only lead us to imagine, that they 
are not in the right." From the peace till his death he lived as a 
private gentleman, devoted to pleasure and the muses. His death 
was occasioned by a fit of the gout August 4, 1792. He published 
the maid of the oaks, an entertainment ; bon ton ; and the heiress, a 
comedy, which were once very popular, and are considered as res- 
pectable dramatic compositions.— Gentlejna7i's magazine ; Stedman, 
i. 318 — 357; Marshall, ni. 231 — 291, 393; Bardie's and Wat' 
fcins^ biog. diet ; Warren's hist, jimer. war, ii. 1—58 ; Holmes' an- 
7ials, ii. 383 — 39 1 ; Ramsay, ii. 27 — 56 ; Gordon, ii. 476—490, 538 
— 578 ; Annual register for 1777, 141 — 176; /or 1778, 195 — 200; 
Coll. hist. soc. ii. 104 — 124. 

BURNET (William), governor of several of the American 
colonies, was the eldest son of the celebrated bishop Burnet, and 
was born at the Hague in March 1688. He was named William 
after the Prince of Orange, who stood his godfather. Previously 
to his coming to this country, he possessed a considerable fortune ; 
but it had been wrecked in the south sea scheme, which reduced ma- 
ny opulent families to indigence. In the year 1720 he was appointed 
governor of New York and New Jersey in the place of Robert 
Hunter, esquire, who succeeded Mr. Burnet as comptroller gene- 
ral of the accounts of the customs, a place worth twelve hundred 
pounds per annum. He arrived at New York and took upon him the 
government of that province September 17, 1720. He continued in 
this station till his removal in 1728. None of his predecessors had 
fiuch extensive and just views of the Indian affairs, and of the dan- 
gerous neighborhood of tlie French, whose advances he was fully 
determined to check. He penetrated into their policy, being con- 
vinced from their possessing the main passes, from their care to con- 
ciliate the natives, and from the increase of their settlements in 
Louisiana, that the British colonies had much to fear from their arts 
and power. In his first speech to the assembly he expressed his 



BUR. i3i 

apprekensions and endeavored to awaken the suspicion of the mem- 
bers. Agreeably to his desire an act was passed at the first session, 
pjrohibiting the sale of such goods to the French, as were suitable 
lor the Indian trade. This was a wise and necessary measure ; 
for by means of goods, procured from Albany and transported to 
Canada by the Mohawk and lake Ontario, the French were enabled 
to divert the fur trade from thp Hudson to the St. Lawrence, and 
to seduce the fidelity of the Indian allies. But wise and necessary, 
as this measure was, a clamor was raised against it by those, whose 
interests were affected. The governor however was not prevented 
from pursuing his plans for the public welfare. He perceived the im- 
poi'tance of obtaining the command of lake Ontario in order to frus- 
trate the project of the French for establisliing a chain of forts from 
Canada to Louisiana, so as to confine the English colonies to narrow 
limits along the sea coast. For tliis purpose he began the erection of 
a trading house atOswegoin the country of theSeneca Indians in 1722. 
In this year there was a congress at Albany of the sevei'al governors 
and commissioners on the renewal of the ancient friendship with 
the Indians ; and governor Burnet persuaded them to send a mes- 
sage to ihe eastern Indians, threatening them with war, unless they 
concluded a peace with the English, who had been much harassed 
by their frequent irruptions. 

Another cirpumstance, in addition to the act above mentioned, in- 
creased the disaffection of the people to the governor. As he sus- 
tained the office of chancellor, he paid great attention to its duties. 
Though he was not a lawyer, he in general transacted the business 
which was brought before him, with correctness and ability. He 
had however one failing, which disqualified him for a station, which 
sometimes required a patient application of mind. His decisions 
were precipitate. He used to say of himself, " I act first, and think 
afterward." As some cases were brought before him, in which 
the path of justice was not so plain as to be instantly seen, and as the 
establishment of the court itself without the consent of the assembly 
Ava^ considered as a grievance, Mr. Burnet saw a strong party rise 
against him. His services were overlooked and his removal became 
necessary. Such was his disinterested .zeal in prosecuting his plan 
of opposition to the French, that after they had built a large store- 
house and repaired the fort at Niagara in 1 726, he in the following 
year, at his own expense, built a fort at Os<\ ego for the protection 
of the post and trade. This was a measure of the highest impor- 
tance to the colonies. 

In the government of New Jersey, which he enjoyed at the same 
time with that of New York, no events of magnitude or interest 
took place. In the session of the assembly, in the year 1721, a 
bill was introduced, which was supposed to have originated with 
the governor, entitled, " an act against denying the divinity of our 
^avior Jesus Christ, the doctrine of the blessed Trinity, the truth 



132 BUR. ■ ' 

of the holy scripture, and spreading alhcislical boolvs ;" hut it was 
rejected, 

Mr. Burnet was succeeded in his irovernmcnts by John Mont- 
gomerie, esquirr, to whom he delivered the great seal of the prov- 
ince of New York April 15, 1728. He left New York with reluc- 
tance, for by his marriage with the daughter of Mr. Vanhornc he 
had become connected with a numerous family, and he. had formed 
a strict intimacy and friendship with several gentlemen of learning 
and worth. 

Being appointed governor of Massachusetts and New Hampsjiirr, 
he reached Boston July 13, 1728, and was received with unusual 
pomp. In his speech to the assembly July 24, he made known his 
instructions to insist upon a fixed salary, and expressed his inten- 
tion firmly to adhere to them. Thus the controversy, which had been 
agitated during the administration of his predecessor Shute, was 
revived. On the one hand it was contended, that if the support of 
the governor depended upon an annual grant, he would be laid 
under constraint, and would not act with the necessary independ- 
ence and regard to the rights of the king. On the other hand it 
was asserted, that the charter gave the assembly a full right to raise 
and appropriate all monies for the support of government, and that 
an honorable support would always be afforded to a worthy chief 
magistrate, without rendering him completely independent of the 
people, whose interests he is bound to promote. The governor 
pursued the controversy with spirit, but without success ; and the 
opposition had an evident effect upon his spirits. A violent coU", 
occasioned by the oversetting of his carriage upon the causeway at 
Cambridge, when the tide was high, was followed by a fever, which 
terminated his life September 7, 1729. He was succeeded by Mr. 
Belcher. 

Governor Burnet was a man of superior talents, and in many re- 
spects of an amiable character. His acquaintance with books and 
his free and easy manner of communicating his sentiments made 
Jiim the delight of men of letters. His library was one of the richest 
private collections in America. His right of precedence in all 
companies rendered him the more excusable in indulging his natu- 
ral disposition by occupying a large share in the conversation. To 
the ladies he made himself peculiarly agreeable. 

In his conduct as governor he discovered nothing of an avaricious 
spirit, though in order to procure supplies for his family he exceeded 
the bounds of the law in demanding fees of masters of vessels. 
His controversy with the assembly respected not the amount of his 
salary, but only the manner, in which it should be secured to him. 
In his disposal of public offices he was sometimes generous, though 
^e visually preferred those, who would favor his cause, and displac- 
ed some, who opposed him . He removed from his posts INIr. Lynde, 
(\ Hiembcr of the house, whose integrity and talents were unquest- 



BUR. 133 

idncdj merely because he would not vote for a compliance with the 
instructions given to the governor. By this measure he lost many 
of his friends. It is however highly to the honor of Mr. Burnet, 
that an immoral or unfair character was in his view a complete ex- 
clusion from office ; and upon this principle only he once gave his 
negative to the election of a member of the council. 

With regard to his religion, he firmly believed the truth of Christ- 
ianity, but he seems not to have possessed all the seriousness, which 
would have been honorable to his character, nor that constant sense 
of obligation to the Giver of all good, which the christian should 
feel. Being invited to dine with an aged gentleman, who had been 
a senator under the old charter, and who retained the custom of say- 
ing grace sitting, he was asked, whether it would be more agreeable 
to his excellency, that grace should be said sittuig or standing. The 
governor replied, " standing or sitting, any way or no way, just as 
you please." Another anecdote is the following. One of the com- 
mittee, who went from Boston to meet him on the borders of Rhode 
Island, was the facetious colonel Taller. Burnet complained of the 
long graces, which were said by clergymen on the road, and asked 
when they woidd shorten. Tailer ansv,'ered, " the graces will in- 
crease in length till you come to Boston ; after that they will short- 
en till you come to your government of New Hampshii'e, where 
your excellency will find no grace at all."' The governor, though 
the son of a bishop, was not remarkable for his exact attendance 
upon public worhip. Mr. Hutchinson, one of his succcy.sors, who 
had a keener sense of what was discreet, if not of Avhat was right, 
thinks that he should have conformed more to the customs and prej- 
udices of New England. But he had no talent at dissimulation, and 
his character presented itself fully to vIcav. He did not appear 
better than he really was. He sometimes v.ore a cloth coat, lined 
with velvet ; it was said to be expressive of his character. By a 
clause in his last will he ordered his body to be buried in the nearest 
church yard or burying ground, as he had no attachment to partic- 
ular modes and forms. 

He published some astronomical observations in the transactions 
of the joyal society, and an essc\y on scripture prophecy, wherein 
it is endeavored to explain the three periods contained in the twelfth 
chapter of Daniel, with arguments to prove, that the first period ex- 
pired in 1715. This was published in 1724, 4to, pp. 1G7. — Smith's 
/list. A". York, 151 — 173, ed. in 4to; Hutchinson, ii. 332 — 366; 
Belknafi's JV. Hampshire, iL 93 — 95 ; Marfihall, i. 290 — 299, 306 ; 
Hardie's bicg. diet.; Caiman's life, 196; Johnson's life, 41, 42 ; 
Minot, i. 6 1 . 

BURR (Jonathan), minister of Dorchester, Massachusetts, 
was born at Redgrave in Suffolk, England, about the year 1604. 
He gave early indications of an inquisitive, studious, and pious 
mind. While he was much attached to I)ookr., tlie bible was pe- 



134 BUR. 

culiarly his delight, and by means of its instructions, which were fa- 
miliar to him from childhood, he was made wise to sdlvalion. Hence 
he was conscientious in secret prayer ; his whole deportment was 
guarded and serious; and his sabbaths were entirely occupied in the 
exercises becoming a day of holy rest. His pious parents observed 
with satisfaction the promising disposition of their son ; and being 
desirous to consecrate him to the service of God and his church, 
determined to bestow upon him a learned education. He was accord- 
ingly sent to the university, where he continued three or four years, 
when the course of his academical studies was interrupted by the 
death of his father. Being compelled by this melancholy event to retire 
into the country, he undertook the instruction of a school ; but he 
still pursued, with unabated ardor, his design of accomplishing 
himself in tiie various branches of knowledge. The awful provi- 
dence of Goii, he would remark, by which he was precluded from 
those employments and honors in the university, of which he was 
very fond, produced an eft'ect, for which he had reason to admire 
the divine wisdom. It promoted in him a humility and seriousness, 
which rendered him mure fit for the great work of turning many 
to righteousness. 

Alter having preached for some time at Horninger, near Bury in 
Suffolk, he was called to take the charge of a congregation at Reck- 
ingshal in the same covmty. Here he approved himself a faithful 
minister of the gospel. By an explicit and solemn covenant he 
obligated himself to the most conscientious discharge of the high 
Aluties, devolved upon him. He often and earnestly prayed, that 
whatever he preached to others, he might preach from his own ex- 
perience. Yet he not unfrcquently lamented to his friends, "alas! 
I preach not what I am, but what I ought to be." 

Being silenced in England with many others for resisting the im>- 
positions of the prelatical party, and apprehending, that calamities 
were in store for the nation, he came to New England in 1639, 
willing to forego all worldly advantages, that he might enjoy the. 
ordinances of the gospel in their purity. He was admitted a mem- 
■ber of the church in Dorchester under the pastoral care of Mr. 
Richard Mather on the twenty first of December. He was in a 
short time invited to settle as a colleague with Mr. Mather in the 
ministry ; but before accepting the invitation a misunderstanding 
arose, which made it necessary to ask the advice of the neighboring 
churches. A coimcil was accordingly called February 2, 1 640, con- 
sisting of governor Winthrop and another magistrate and ten min- 
isters. Four days were spent in examining and discussing the af- 
fair. It appeared, that Mr. Burr had been suspected of some er- 
rors, and being directed to give his opinions in writing to Mr. Ma- 
ther, the latter had re])orted the exceptionable expressions and the 
erroneous sentiments to the church, without alluding to the quali- 
fications, which they mijht receive from other partsof the writing. 



BUR. 135 

These errors Mr. Burr disclaimed. The council in their result 
declared, tiiat both these good men had cuu&e to be humbled foriheir 
failings, and advised them to set apartacu*y lor reconciliation. This 
was accordingly done. The spirit oi neekness and iove triumph- 
ed, the mutual aftection of the miniaters \vas restored, and the peace 
of the church was happily reestablished. Mr. Burr, whose faith 
had been scmewnat shaken, by means of the discussion was 
confirmed in the truth, and he humb'ed hiar.self with many tears. 

He and his family were inthis^year taken sick with the smali pcx, 
which, as inoculation was not practised, wus a very dangerous dis- 
order ; but he happily recovered. On this occasion he renewed 
the dedication of himself to God, resolving to act only ibrhis giory 
and the good of his brethren, and not to be governed by selfish- 
ness ; to live in humility and with a sense of his complete depend- 
ence upon divine grace ; to be watchful over his own heart, lest his 
reliance should be transferred from the Creator to the creature ; 
to be mindful, that God heareth prayer ; and to bend his exertions 
with more diligence for the promotion of pious aflFections in him- 
self and in his family. He lived afterwards answerably to these 
holy resolutions. The most experienced christians in the country 
found his ministry, and liis whole deportment breathing much of 
the spirit of a better world. The eminent Mr. Hooker, once hear= 
ing him preach, remarked, " surely this man will not be long out 
of heaven, for he preaches, as if he were there already." He died 
after a short sickness August 9, 1641, aged thirty seven years. 

Mr. Burr was esteemed both in England and in this country for 
his piety and learning. His modesty and self diffidence were un- 
commonly great. He could with difficulty imagine, that perform- 
ances such as his could be productive of any good. Yet he was 
sometimes most happily disappointed. Having been by much impor- 
tunity prevailed on to preach at a distance from home, he returned, 
making the most humiliating reflections on his sermon. " It must 
surely be of God," said he, " if any good is done by so unworthy an 
instrument." Yet this sermon was instrumental in the conversion 
of a person of eminence, who heard it, and whose future life mani- 
fested, that he was a christian indeed. It was his custom on the 
sabbath, after his public labors, to retire to his closet, where he sup- 
plicated forgiveness of the sins, which had attended his performanc- 
es, and implored the divine blessins: upon them. He then spent 
some hours in praying with his family and instructing them in the 
great truths and duties of religion. When he was desired to re- 
lax his excessive exertions to do good, lest he should be exhausted, 
he replied, " it is better to be worn cut with the work, than to be 
eaten out with rust." He began each day with secret prayer. He then 
carefully meditated on a chapter of the bible, which he afterwards, 
at the time of domestic worship, expounded to his family and such 
neighbors, as wished to be present. A similar course he pursued 



136 BUR. 

at evening. lie generally spent some tin^c after dinner in praying 
with his wife. Immediately before retiring to rest, he employed 
half an hour in recollecting and confessing the sins of the day, in 
grateful acknowledgments of divine mercies, and in supplications to 
be prepared for sudden death. Previously to each celebration of 
the Lord's supper, he kept with his wife a day of fasting and prayer, 
not merely as a preparative for tliat sacred ordinance, but as a sea- 
son for imploring the blessing of God on his family and neighbor- 
hood. Absence irom home was irksome to him, particularly as it 
deprived him of those opportunities of holding intercourse with 
heaven, on which he placed so great a value. But when he jour- 
neyed with his friends, he did not fail to edify them by profitable 
conversation ; especially by instructive remarks on such objects and 
occurrences, as presented themselves to his attention. In the re- 
collection of these scenes he was accustomed to inquire, what good 
had been done or gained, what useful examples seen, and what val- 
uable instructions heard. 

While he was indefatigable in his ministerial work, he was not 
anxious for any other reward, than Avhat he found in thp service it- 
self. If any, who hoped that they had received spiritual benefit 
through his exertions, sent him expressions of their gratitude, he 
would pray that he might not have his portion in these things. 
Nor was he backward to remind his grateful friends, that whatever 
good they had received through him, the glory should be ascribed 
to God alone. It was in preaching the gospel, that he found his 
highest enjoyment in life. In proportion to the ardor of his piety 
was the extent of his charity. He sincerely loved his fellow men, 
and while their eternal interests pressed with weight on his heart, 
he entered with lively sympathy into their temporal afflictions. 
Rarely did he visit the poor without communicating what was com- 
fortable to the body, as well as what was instructive and salutary to 
the soul. When he was reminded of the importance of having a 
greater regard to his own interest, he replied, I often think of 
those words," he that soweth sparingly shall reap sparingly." For 
the general interests of religion in the world he felt so lively a 
concern, that his personal joys and sorrows seemed inconsiderable 
in comparison. He was bold and zealous in withstanding every 
thing, which brought dishonor on the name of God ; but under per- 
sonal injuries he was exemplarily meek and patient. When inform- 
ed, that any thought meanly of him, his reply was, " I think 
meanly of myself, and therefore may well be content, that others 
think meanly of me." When charged with what was faulty, he 
remarked, " if men see so much evil in mc, what does God see ?" 

In his last sickness he exhibited uncommon patience and submis- 
sion. He was perfectly resigned to the will of God. Just before 
his death, as his faith was greatly tried, and he endured a sharp con- 
flict, a nerson, M'ho wc^s standing by, remarked, " this is one of Sa- 



BUR. 137 

toll's last assaults ; he is a subtle enemy, and would, if it were pos" 
sible, deceive the very elect." Mr. Burr repeated the expression* 
" if it were possible," and added, " but blessed be God, there is no 
possibility." He then requested to be left alone for prayer. 
But seeing the company reluctant to depart, he prayed in 
Latin as long as he had strength. He then called for his wife, 
and steadfastly fixing his eyes upon her said, " cast thy care upon 
God, for he careth lor thee." He soon afterwards expired. He 
left four children. His eldest son was educated at Harvard college. 
His widow married the honorable Richard Dummer, esquire, with 
whom she lived happily near forty years. — Mather's magnalia^ iii. 78 
—81 ; Panop,list^ Selitembery 1808; lVin(/iro/i's Journal^ 216; Har» 
ris' hist, o/" Dorchester in Collect, hist. soc. ix. 173—175. 

BURR (Aaron), president of New Jersey college, was a na- 
tive of Fairfield in Connecticut, and was born in the year 1714. His 
ancestors for a number of generations had lived in that colony, and 
were persons of great respectability. He descended, it is believed, 
from the reverend Jonathan Burr of Dorchester. He was graduated 
at Yale college in 1735. In 1742 he was invited to take the pastoral 
charge of the presbyterian church at Newark in New Jersey. Here 
he became so eminent as an able and learned divine and an accom- 
plished scholar, that in 1748 he was unanimously elected president of 
the college, which he was instrumental in founding, as successor to Mr. 
Dickinson. The college was removed about this time from Eliza- 
bethtown to Newark and in 1757, a short time before the death of 
Mr. Burr, to Princeton. In 1754 he accompanied Mr. Whitefield 
to Boston, having a high esteem for the character of that eloquent 
itinerant preacher, and greatly rejoicing in the success ot his la- 
bors. After a life of usefulness and honor, devoted to his Master in 
heaven, he was called into the eternal world September 24, 1757, 
in the midst of his days, being in the forty third year of his age. 

President Burr was a person of a slender and a delicate make, 
yet to encounter fatigue he had a heart of steel. To amazing tal»- 
ents for the dispatch of business he joined a constancy of mind, 
that commonly secured to him success. As long as an enterprise 
appeared possible, he yielded to no discouragement. The flourishing 
state of the college of New Jei'sey was much owing to his great and 
assiduous exertion. It was in a great degree owing to his influence 
with the legislature and to his intimacy and friendship with gover- 
nor Belcher, that the charter was enlarged in 1746. The first class 
was graduated in 1748, the first of year his presidency. When his 
services were requested by the trustees of the college in soliciting 
donations for the purchase of a library and philosophical apparatus, 
and for erecting a building for the accommodation of the students, 
he engaged wjih his usual zeal in the undertaking, and every where 
met with the encouragement, which the design so fully deserved. A 
place being fixed upon at Princeton for the site of the new building, 
18 



138 BUR. 

the superintendence of the work was solely committed to him. Un- 
til the spring of 1757, when the college was removed to Newark* 
he discharged the duties both of president and pastor of a church. 

Few were more perfect in the art of rendering themselves agree- 
able in company. He knew the avenues to the human heart, and 
he possessed the rare power of pleasing Avithout betraying a design 
to please. As he was free from ostentation and parade, no one 
tirould have suspected his learning unless his subject required him 
to display it, and then every one was surprised that a person so well 
acquainted with books should yet possess such ease in conversation 
and such freedom of behavior. He inspired all around him with 
cheerfulness. His arms were open to good men of every denomi- 
nation. A sweetness of temper, obliging courtesy and mildness of 
manners joined to an engaging candor of sentiment spread a glory 
over liis reputation, and endeared his person to all his acquaint- 
ance. Though steady to his own principles he was free from all 
bigotry. 

In the pulpit he shone with superior lustre. He was fluent, copi- 
ous, feublime, and persuasive. Having a clear and harmonious voice, 
which was capable of expressing the various passions, and taking a 
deep interest in his subjects, he could not fail to reach the heart. 
His invention was exhaustless, and his elocution was equal to his 
ideas. He was not one of those preachers, who soothe their hear- 
ers with a delusive hope of safety, who substitute morality in the 
place of holiness, and yield the important doctrines of the gospel 
through fear of displeasing the more reputable sinners. He insist- 
ed upon the great and universal duty of repentance, as ail were 
guilty and condemned by the divine law. He never wished to ad- 
minister consolation, till the heart was renewed and consecrated un- 
to God. When he saw the soul humbled, he then dwelt upon the 
riches of redeeming mercy, and expatiated upon the glories of him, 
who was God manifest in the flesh. It was his endeavor to alarm 
the thoughtless, to fix upon the conscience a sense of sin, to revive 
the disconsolate, to animate the penitent, to reclaim the relapsing, 
to confirm the irresolute, and to establish the faithful. He wished 
to restore to man the beautiful image of God disfigured by the a- 
postasy. His life and example were a comment on his sermons, 
and by his engaging deportment he rendered the amiable character 
of a christian still more attractive and lovely. 

He was distinguished for his public spirit. Amidst his other 
cares he studied, and planned, and toiled for the good of his coun- 
try. He had a high sense of English liberty and detested despotic 
power as the bane of human happiness. He considered the heresy 
of Arius as not more fatal to the purity of the gospel, than the po- 
sitions of Filmer were to the dignity of man and the repose of 
states. But though he had much of that patriotic spirit, which is orna- 
mental even to a christian minister, he very cautiously intermcd- 



BUR. 139 

died with any matters of a political nature, being aware of the invidi- 
ous constructions, which are commonly put upon the most unex- 
ceptionable attempts, made by men of his profession to promote the 
public welfare. He was a correspondent of the Scotch society for 
propagating the gospel ; and he thought no labor too great in the 
prosecution of an enterprise, which promised to illuminate the 
gloomy wilderness with the beams of evangelical truth. 

He presided over the college with dignity and reputation. He 
had the most engaging method of instruction and a singular talent 
in communicating his sentiments. While he stripped learning of 
its mysteries, and presented the most intricate subjects in the clear- 
est light, and thus enriched his pupils with the treasures of learning, 
he wished also to implant in their minds the seeds of virtue and re- 
ligion. He took indefatigable pains in regard to their religious in- 
struction, and with zeal, solicitude, and parental affection pressed 
upon them the care of their souls, and with melting tenderness urg- 
ed the importance of their becoming the true disciples of the ho- 
ly Jesus. In some instances his pious exertions were attended 
with success. In the government of the college he exhibited the 
greatest impartiality and wisdom. Though in judgment and tem- 
per inclined to mild measures, when these failed, he would resoit 
to a necessary severity, and no connexions could prevent the equal 
distribution of justice. In no college were the students more nar- 
rowly inspected and prudently guarded, or vice of every kind more 
effectually searched out, and discountenanced or suppressed. He 
secured with the same ease the obedience and love of his paipils. 

The year after he took his first degree he resided at New Haven, 
and this is the period, when his mind was first enlightened with the 
knowledge of the way of salvation. In his private papers he wj ote 
as follows ; " this year God saw fit to open my eyes, and shew me 
what a miserable creature I was. Till then I had spent my life in 
a dream ; and as to the great design of my being had lived in vain. 
Though before I had been under frequent convictions, and was 
<lriven to a form of reUgion, yet 1 knew nothing as I ought to know. 
3ut then I was brought to the footstool of sovereign grace ; saw 
jEnyself polluted by nature and practice ; had affecting views of the 
divine wrath I deserved ; was made to despair ef help in myself, 
and almost concluded, that my day of grace was . past. It pleased 
God, at length, to reveal has Son to me in the gospel, an all sufficient 
and willing Savior, and I hope inclined me to receive him on the 
ierms of the gospel. I received some consolation, and found a 
^reat change in myself. Before this I was strongly attached to the 
Arminian scheme, but then I was made to see those things in a dif-* 
ferent light, and seemingly felt the truth of the Calvhiian doctrines." 
He was unfluctuating in principle and ai-dent in devotion, raising his 
heart continually to the Father of mercies in adoration and praise. 
Jle kept his eye fixed upon the Iwgh destiny of man, and lived. >a 



14« BUR. 

spiritual life. The efRcacy of his religious principles was evinced 
by his benevolence and charity. From the grace of God he receiv- 
ed a liberal and generous disposition, and from his bounty the pow- 
er of gratifying the desire oi doing good. 

At the approach of death that gospel, which he had preached 
to others, and which discloses a crucified Redeemer, gave him sup- 
port. He was patient and resigned, and was cJiocred with the live- 
liest hope. The king of terrors was disarmed of Iiis sting. 

Mr. Burr married in 1752 a daughter of Jonathan Edwards, hirs 
successor in the presidency of the college. She died in 1758, the 
year after the death of her husband, in the twenty seventh year of 
her age, leaving two children, one of whom was Aaron Burr, late 
vice president of the United States, and the other a daughter, who 
was married to judge Reeve of Connecticut. She died a numlier of 
years ago. Mrs. Burr was in every respect an ornament to her sex, 
being equally distinguished for the suavity of her temper, the 
gracefulness of her manners, her literary accomplishments, and her 
unfeigned regard to religion. She combined a lively imagination, 
a penetrating mind, and a correct judgment. When only seven or 
eight years of age she was brought to the knowledge of the truth, 
as it is in Jesus, and her conduct through life was becoming the gos- 
pel. Her religion did not cast a gloom over her mind, but made 
her cheerful and happy, and rendered the thought of death trans- 
porting. She left a number of manuscripts upon interesting sub- 
jects, and it was hoped they would have been made public ; but 
they are now lost. 

Mr. Burr published a valuable treatise, which displays his talents 
in controversial theology, entitled, the supreme deity of our Lord 
Jesus Christ maintained in a letter to the dedicator of Mr. Emlyn's 
inquiry; reprinted at Boston in 1791. He published also a fast 
sermon on account of the encroachments of the French and their 
designs against the British colonies in America, delivered at New- 
ark January 1, 1755 ; the watchman's answer to the question, what 
of the night ? a sermon before the synod of New York, convened 
at Newark September 30, 1756 ^ a funeral sermon at the interment 
of governor Belcher, September 4, 1757. This was preached but 
a few days before his own death, and his exertions in a very feeble 
state of health to honor the memory of a highly respected friend, 
it is thought, accelerated that event. — Livings fo?i's funeral elo- 
gium ; Smith's funeral sermon^ and preface to Burr's sermon on 
the death of Belcher ; Miller's retrosfiect, ii. 345 ; Hardie's biog. die- 
tionary ; Edwards' life^ afifiendix. 

BURRILL (John), speaker of thp house of representatives of 
Massachusetts, sustained this office for many years during the ad- 
ministration of governor Shute, and acquitted himself in it with 
great reputation. He was distinguished for his great integrity, his 
ttc^uaUiiuuce with the lorma of parliameiUary proceedings, the di™» 



BUR. Ui 

uity and authority, with which he filled the chair, and for the order 
and decorum, which he maintained in the debates of the house. In 
the year 1720 he was chosen a member of the council. He might 
have received this honor for a number of the preceding years ; 
but he made liimself contented v/ith the station, which he occupied. 
He died of the small pox at Lynn December 10, 172 1, in the sixty 
fourth year of his age. Besides sustaining the offices above men- 
tioned, he was also one of the judges of the county of Essex. To 
his other accomplishments there was added an exemplary piety. 
The morning and evening incense of prayer to God ascended from 
his family &\i2LY.— Henchman's funeral sermon ; Hutchi7i30n's history 
of Massachusetts ii. 234. 

BURROUGHS (George), one of the victims of the witch- 
craft delusion in 1692, was graduated at Harvard college in 1670, 
and succeeded Mr. Bayley as a preacher at Salem village in 1681. 
After remaining here a few years he left his family, and went to 
Falmouth, now Portland, in the district of Maine in 1685, where 
he preached till the town was sacked by the Indians in 1690. He 
then returned to Salem village, or Danvers. In 1692 he was accus- 
ed of witchcraft, and was brought to trial on the fifth of August. In 
his indictment it was stated, that by his wicked arts one Mary Wol- 
cott was " tortured, afflicted, pined, consumed, wasted, and torment- 
ed." The evidence against him was derived principally from the 
testimony of the afflicted persons, as those were called, who were 
supposed to be bewitched, and from that of the confessing witches. 
The spectre of a little black haired man, it was testified, had in» 
flicted cruel pains, and appeared as a head conjuror. Two of his 
wives had appeared to the witnesses, saying, that he was the cause 
of their death, and threatening, if he denied it, that they would ap- 
pear in court. Accordingly during his trial the afflicted persons 
were thrown into a paroxism of horror by the spectres of his wives, 
who were mindful of their engagement. The confessing witches 
affirmed, that he had attended witch meetings with them, and com.- 
pelled them to th^ snares of witchcraft. He was also accused of 
performing such feats of extraordinary strength, as could not be 
performed without diabolical assistance, such as carrying a barrel of 
molasses through a difficult place from a canoe to the shore, and 
putting his fore finger into the muzzle of a large gun, and holding 
it out straight. He pleaded his innocence ; but it was in vain. He 
had excited prejudices against him, while he lived in Salem, and 
he was now doomed to suffer with many others through the infatu- 
ation, which prevailed. He was executed on the nineteenth of Au- 
gust. At his execution he made a speech assening his innocence, 
and concluded his dying prayer with the Lord's prayer, probably to 
vindicate his character, as it was a received opinion, that a witch 
could not repeat the Lord's prayer without mistake. This last ad» 
jlrcss to heaven was uttered with such composure and fcrvencv 



142 BUR. 

of spirit, as drew tears from the spectatoi"s.— A*ca/'* ^\*. JinglaudyM. 
130—134, 144; JIutchinson.,u. 37, 56 ; Coilections Jiiiit.,soc.\i.265, 
268; Sullivan's his(. Maine, 209 — 212; Cale/'s more nvomkra of 
the invisible "world, fireface, aJid 103, 104. 

BURT (John), minister of Bristol, Rhode Island, was graduat- 
ed at Harvard college in 1736, and was ordained about the year 
1741. He died October 7, 1775, aged fifty eight years. His death 
was very singular. Captain James Wallace, a British commander, 
had commenced a heavy cannonude upon the town at a time, when an 
epidemical sickness was prevailing. Those, who were able, fled 
from the town. Mr. Burt, though weak and sick, endeavored to 
escape the impending destruction. He was afterwards found dead 
in an adjacent field, supposed to have been overcome by fatigue. 
No other person was injured in the attack. He was a sound divine 
and a venerable servant of Jesus Christ, preaching the true 
doctrines of grace. — Account of Bristol ; Warren's hist, war, i. 244. 

BUSS (John), remarkable for longevity, died at Durham in 
^ew Hampshire in 1736 aged one hundred and eight years. Though 
never ordained, he had been a preacher of the gospel for thirty 
three years ; he liad also been a practitioner of physic, lie was 
remarkably active and vigorous at a very advanced age. — Belknap's 
New Hamtishire, iii. 250. 

BUTLER (RiciiAKD,) a brave officer during the war of the 
American revolution, sustained the office of colonel at the close of 
the struggle with great Great Britain. On more than one occasion 
he had distinguished himself in a remarkable manner. In the 
battle with the Indians near the Miamis villages November 4, 1791, 
which terminated in the defeat of St. Clair, he commanded the 
right wing of the army with the rank of general. In this engage- 
ment he was killed. — MarshalVs life of Washington, v. 329, 332, 334. 

BUTLER (Thomas,) a brave officer during the war with Great 
Britain, was a brother of the preceding. Three other brothers 
fought in the service of their country. In the year 1776 he was a 
student at law with the eminent judge Wilson of Philadelphia ; 
but early in that year he quitted his studies, and joined the army as 
a subaltern. He soon obtained the command of a company, in 
•which grade he continued till the close of the revolutionary contest. 
He was in almost every action, that was fought in the middle states 
during the war. At the battle of Brandywine, September 11, 
1777, he received the thanks of Washington on the field of battle, 
through liis aid de camp, general Hamilton, for his intrepid con- 
duct in rallying a detachment of retreating troq)s, and giving the 
enemy a severe fiic. At the battle of Monmouth, June 28, 1778, 
he received the thanks of general Wayne for defending a defile in 
the face of a heavy liie from the enemy, while colonel Richard 
Butler's regiment made !;ood their retreat. 

At the close of the war he retired into private life as a farmer. 



BYF. 143 

And continued in the enjoyment of rural and domestic happiness 
fill the year 1791, when he a^ain took the field to meet a savage 
foe, that menaced our -western i'rontier. He commanded a battal- 
ion in the disastrous battle of November 4, in which his brother 
fell. Orders were given by general St. Clair to charge with the 
bayonet, and major Butler, though his leg had been broken by a 
ball, yet on horse back led his battalion to the charge. It was ynih 
difficulty, that his surviving brother, captain Edward Butler, re- 
moved him from the field. In 1792 he was continued on the 
establishment as a major, and in 1794 he was promoted to the rank 
of lieutenant colonel commandant of the fourth sublegion. He 
commanded in this year fort Fayette at Pittsburgh, and prevented 
the deluded insurgents from taking it more by his name, than by 
his forces, for he had but few troops. In 1797 he was named by 
president Washington as the officer best calculated to command in 
the state of Tennessee, when it was necessary to dispossess some 
citizens, who had imprudently settled on the Indian lands. Ac- 
cordingly in May he marched with his regiment from the Miami on 
the Ohio, and by that prudence and good sense, which marked his 
character through life, he in a short time removed all difficulties. 
While in Tennessee he made several treaties with the Indians. 
In 1802, at the reduction of the army, he was continued as colonel 
of a regiment on the peace establishment. 

The close of his life was embittered by trouble. In 1803 he 
was arrested by the commanding general at fort Adams on the 
Mississippi, and sent to Maryland, where he was tried by a court 
martial, and acquitted of all the charges, except that of wearing 
his hair. He was then ordered to New Orleans, where he arrived 
to take the command of the troops October 20. He was again 
arrested the next month, but the court did not meet till July of the 
next year, and their decision is not known. Colonel Butler died 
September 7, 1805, aged fifty one years.— Louisiana Gazelle; 
Polyanl/ios, i. 13 — 17 ; Marshall, v. 332. 

BYFIELD (Nathaniel), judge of the vice admiralty, and 
member of the council of Massachusetts, was the son of the rev- 
erend Richard Byfield, pastor of Long Ditton in Sussex, England, 
who was one of the divines in the Westminster assembly. He 
was bom in the year 1653, and was the youngest of twenty one 
children, sixteen of whom sometimes accompanied at the same 
lime their pious father to the house of vrorsliip. He arrived at 
Boston in the year 1674. Being an eminent merchant, whose 
property was very considerable, soon after Philip's war he was one 
of the four proprietors and the principal settler of the town of 
Bristol in Rhode Island. He lived in this place till the year 1724, 
when on account of his advanced age he returned to Boston, where 
he died June 6, 1733, in the eightieth year of his age. 

Colonel Byfield possessed very considerable abilities, which fit-' 



144 BVL. 

ted him for the stations, which he occupied. He held a variety 6i 
offices both civil and militury. He was speaker of the house of 
representatives, was for thirty eight years chief justice of the 
court of common pleas for lirislol county, and two years tor Suf- 
folk, was many years a member of the council, and was judge of 
the vice admiralty from the year 1703. His spirit was active and 
vigorous, his courage unshaken by any danger, and his constancy 
such as was not easily discouraged by difficulties. He was well 
formed for the exercise of authority^ his very looks inspiring respect. 
He possessed a happy elocution. He loved order, and in his fami- 
ly the nicest economy was visible. He was conspicuous for piety, 
having a liberal, catholic spirit, and loving all good men, hov.cver 
they diffci'ed from him in matters of small importance. For forty 
years he constantly devoted a ccrtiiin proportion of his estate to 
charitable purposes. In one year he was known to give away sev- 
eral hvmdreds of pounds. He had a steady and unshaken faith in 
the truths of the gospel, and he died in the lively liope of the 
mercy of God through a glorious Redeemer. 

He published a tract, entitled, an account of the late revolution 
in New England, with the declaration of the gentlemen, merchants, 
and inhabitants of Boston, 8;c. 1689. — -C/iauncy's yun. sermon; 
IVeeklij news letter^ number 1533 ; Hiitchhison, ii. 2 1 1. 

BYLES (MATHKit, D. D.), muiister of Boston, was descended 
from a respectable ^amily and was born in thattown March 26, 1706. 
His father was a native of England and died within a year after the 
birth of his son. By his mother's side he descended from the rev- 
erend Richard Mather of Dorchester and the reverend John Cotton 
of Boston. In early life he discovered a taste for literature, and he 
was graduated at Harvard college in 1725. After pursuing his lit- 
erary and theological studies for some time he commenced preach- 
ing. He was ordained the first pastor of the church in HoUis street, 
Boston, December 20, 1733. It was not long before he attained 
considerable eminence in his profession, and he became known by 
his publication of several pieces in prose and verse. His poetical 
talents he considered only as instruments of innocent amusement, 
and never permitted them to withdraw his attention from m.orc 
serious and profitable objects. He never attempted any great pro- 
duction in verse ; but sounded his lyre only in compUance with 
occasional inclination. 

Dr. Byles continued to live happily with his parish in the useful 
discharge of ministerial duties until the late revolution began to 
create distrust and animosity between the different parties, that 
existed in the country prior to the war. Falling under the impu- 
tation of being a tory, he was in 1776 separated from his people by 
the jealousy and violence of the times, and he was never afterwards 
reunited to them. He was accused of attachment to Great Brit- 
ain. The sui)stance ot" the charges against him was, that he con- 



BYL. 145 

linucd in Boston with his family during the siege ; that he ptayed 
for the king and the safety of the town ; and that he received the vis- 
its of the British officers. In May 1777 he was denounced in town 
meeting as a person inimical to America ; after which he waS 
obliged to enter into bonds for his appearance at a public trial before 
a special court on the second of June following. He was pronounced 
guilty and sentenced to confinement on board a guard ship, and irt 
forty days to be sent with his family to England. When brought 
before the board of war, by whom he was treated respectfully, his 
sentence seems to have been altered, and it was directed, that he 
should be confined to his OAvn house, and a guard placed over him 
there. This was accordingly done for a few weeks, and then the 
guard was removed. A short time afterwards a guard was again 
placed over him, and again dismissed. Upon this occasion he ob- 
served in his own manner, that he was guarded, reguarded, and dis- 
regarded. He was not again connected with any parish. In the 
year 1783 he was seized with a paralytic disorder, and he died July 
5, 1788, aged eighty two years. 

Dr. Byles was in person tall and well proportioned. He possess* 
ed a commanding presence, and was a graceful speaker. His voice 
was strong, clear, harmonious, and susceptible of various modula- 
tions, adapted to the subject of his discourse. He was remark- 
able for the abundance of his wit in common conversation, and 
for the smartness of his repartees. He possessed an uncommon 
talent in making puns, some of which are at the present day fre- 
quently repeated in social circles. His imagination was fertile, and 
his satire keen. His wit was a dangerous instrument, in the use of 
which he was not always prudent, and it is thought, that he was not 
sufficiently regardful of the consequences of the severe remarks, in 
which he sometimes indulged himself. 

His literary merit introduced him to the acquaintance of many 
men of genius in England ; and the names of Pope, Lansdowne, 
and Watts are found among his correspondents. From the former, 
he received a copy of an elegant edition of the Odyssey in quarto. 
Dr. Watts sent him copies of his works as he published them. In 
his preaching he was generally solemn and interesting, though 
sometimes his sermons gave indications of the peculiar turn of 
his mind. On being asked, why he did not preach politics, he 
replied ; " I have thrown up four breast works, behind which I 
have intrenched myself, neither of which can be forced. In the 
first place I do not understand politics ; in the second place, you 
all do, every man and mother's son of you ; in the third place, you 
have politics all the week, pray let one day in seven be devoted to 
religion ; in the fourth place 1 am engaged in a work of infinitely 
greater importance. Give me any subject to preach on of more 
consequence than the truths I bring to you, and I will preach on it 
the next sabbath." 

19 



U6 BYL. 

The following extracts from one of his sermons will show what 
were the reli.^ious sentiments, wiiich he embraced and enforced up- 
on his hearers, " We perceive," said he," that conversion is out of 
our own power. It is impossible for us to convert ourselves, or for 
all the angels hi heaven to do it for us. To convince you of this, let 
the natural man make tne experiment. Try this moment. Try and 
see whether you can brintj your hearts to this, to renounce all hap- 
piness in every tiling but the favor of God ; to let God order for 
you ; to have no will of your own ; to be swallowed up and ravish- 
ed with his will, whatever it is. Can you renoimce every mortal 
idol ? Can you leave this world and all the low delit^ht*! of it, and 
go to a world, where you will have none of them ; l)Ut the love of 
God will swallow you up ? These things are so far distant from an 
unrenewed heart, that they look like wild paradoxes to it."—" The 
enmity between God and us is irreconcilable, but by ('hrist. Out 
of him God is a consuming fire. False notions of the divine jus- 
tice and mercy could never bring us truly to him ; and true ones 
would only drive us farther from him. So that set Christ aside, and 
there can be no conversion. We learn also the honors of the Ho- 
ly Ghost. He is the agent, who performs this work. One reason, 
that men fall short of this saving change, is the not acknowledging 
him, as they ought. Did men regard the operation of the Holy 
Spirit more, there would be more frequent converts. Men arc 
apt to trust to their oAvn strength, when they set about the work of 
conversion. They rob the Spirit of God of his glorjr, and so it all 
romes to nothing. He it is, who makes this great change in men. 
He must be the almighty God then ; and we should honor him as 
so." 

Dr. Byles was twice married. His first wife was the niece of 
governor Belcher, and his second the daughter of lieutenant gov- 
ernor Tailcr. His son, the reverend Mather Byles, is now rector 
of Trinity church, St. John's, New Brunswick. 

He published a number of essays in the New England weekly 
journal, which are marked by one of the letters composing the word 
cELoiZA ; a poem on the death of George I, and the accession 
of George H, 1727 ; a poetical epistle to his excellency, governor 
Belcher, on the death of his lady, 1736. A number of his miscel- 
laneous poems were collected and printed in a volume. Among the 
sermons, which he published, are the following ; the character of 
the upright man, 1729 ; on the nature and necessity of conversion, 
1732, the third edition in 1771 ; the flourish of the annual spring, 
1739 ; artillery election sermon, 1740 ; on setting our affections 
on things above, 1740 ; funeral sermon on Mrs. Dummei-, 1752 ; 
on William Dummer, tsquii"e, 1761 ; on John Gould, esquire, 1772 ; 
a sermon at the Thursday lectul'e, 175 1 ; on the earthquake, 1755 ; 
a thanksgiving sermon for the success of the British arms, 1760 ; 
on the present vileness of the body and its future glorious change, 
second edition, l77l.—-'Polyanthos,iv. 1—10. 



BYR. 147 

BYRD (William), a native of Virginia, died about the middle 
of the last century. He was liberally educated in Great Britain, 
and possessed a very ample estate. Yew persons in America ever 
collected so large and valuable a library, as he left. He was a very 
ardent friend to the diffusion of knowledge, and freely opened his 
library for the use of all, who sought information. He published 
several small tracts. — Miller, ii. 361. 

CABOT (John), a Venetian, who first discovei'ed the continent 
of America, was perfectly skilled in all the sciences requisite to 
form an accomplished mariner. He had three sons, Lewis, Se- 
bastian, and Sanctius, all of whom he educated in a manner best 
calculated to make them able seamen. Encouraged by the suc- 
cess of Columbus, who returned in 1493 from his first voyage, he 
was determined to attempt the discovery of unknown lands, par- 
ticularly of a northwest passage to the East Indies. Having 
obtained a commission from king Henry VH, empowering him 
and his three sons to discover unknown lands, and to conquer and 
settle them, and giving him jurisdiction over the countries, which 
he should subdue, on condition of paying the king one fifth part of 
all the g<iins, he sailed from Bristol with two vessels, fixighted by 
the merchants of London and Bristol with articles of traffic, and 
Avith about three hundi'ed men, in the beginning of May 1497. He 
sailed towards the northwest till he reached the latitude of fifty 
eiglit degrees, when the floating ice, which he met, and tl^e severity 
of the weather induced him to alter his course to the southwest. 
He discovered land in the morning of June twenty fourth, which, as 
it was the first, that he had seen, be called Prima Vista. This is 
generally supposed to be a part of the island of Newfoundland^ 
though in the opinion of some it is a place on the peninsula of Nova 
Scotia in the latitude of forty five degrees. A few days afterward 
a smaller island was discovered, to which he gave the name of St. 
John, on account of its being discovered on the day of John the 
baptist. Continuing his course westwardly, he soon reached the 
continent, and then sailed along the coast northwardly to the latitude 
of sixty seven and a half degrees. As the coast stretched towai'd 
the east, he turned back and sailed along tlie coast toward the equa- 
tor, till he came to Florida, The provisions now failing, and a mu- 
tiny breaking out among the mariners, he returned to England 
without attempting a settlement or conquest in any part of the new 
world. 

In this voyage Cabot was accompanied by his son Sebastian, and 
to them is attributed the honor of first discovering the continent of 
North America ; for it was not till the following year, 1498, that 
the continent was seen by Co\umhus.—-Belknafi's ^m err can bioff, 
i. 149 — 154 ; Hobnes' a7inals, ii. 17, 18, JVote 1, end of vol. ; Pur- 
€/iasy i. 737, 738 ; Robertson, book ix. 16, 17 ; Prince, jntrod. 80. 



148 CAB. 

CABOT (Sebastian), an eminent navigator, was the son of the 
preceding, and was born at lirislol. When about twenty years of 
3g;e he accompanied his father in the voyage of 1497, in which the 
continent of the new world was discovered. About the year 1517 
he sailed on another voyage of discovery, and went to the Brasils, 
and thence to Hispaniola and Porto Rico. Failing in his object of 
finding a way to the East Indies, he returned to England. 

Having been invited to Spain, where he was received in the most 
respectful manner by king Ferdinand and queen Isabella, he siiiled 
in their service on a voyage of discovery in April 1525. He visit- 
ed the coast of Brasil, and entered a great river, to which he gave 
the name of Rio de la Plata. He sailed up this river one hundred 
and twenty leagues. After being absent on this expedition a num- 
ber of years, he returned to Spain in the spring of 1531. But he 
was not well received. His rigorous treatment of some mutineers 
and other circumstances had created him enemies. He however 
found means to retain the commission of chief pilot, with which he 
had been honored by Ferdinand. He made other voyages, of which 
no particular memorials remain. His residence was in the city of 
tseville. His employment was the drav/ing of charts, on which he 
tlelineated all the new discoveries made by himself and others ; and 
by his office he was entrusted \yith the reviewing of all projects for 
discovery. His character is said to have been gentle, friendly, and 
social, thoi'gh in his voyages some instances of injustice towards 
the natives and of severity towards his mariners are recorded. 

In his advanced age he returned to England and resided at Bris- 
tol. He received a pension from king Edward VI, and was appoint- 
ed governor of a company of merchants, associated for the purpose 
of making discoveries of unknown countries. He had a strong 
persuasion, that a passage might be found to China by the north 
east. By his means a trade was commenced with Russia, which 
gave rise to the Russian company. The last account, which is 
found of him, is that in 1556, when the company were sending out 
9 vessel for discovery, he made a visit on board. " The good old 
gentleman, master Cabota," says the journal of the voyage in Hak- 
luyt, " gave to the poor most liberal alms, wishing them to pray 
for the good fortune and prosperous success of our pinnace. And 
then at the sign of St. Christopher, he and his friends banquetted, 
and for very joy, that he had to see the towardness of our intended 
discovery, he entered into the dance himself among the rest of the 
young and lusty company ; which being ended, he and hia 
friends departed, most gently commending us to the governance of 
almighty God." 

He died it is believed in 1557, aged eighty years. He was one 
of the most extraordinary men of the age, in which he lived. There 
is preserved in Hakluyt a complete set of instructions drawn and 
signed by Cabot for the direction of the voyage to Cathay in China> 



CAD. 149 

which affords the clearest proof of his sagacity. It is supposed, 
that he was the first, who noticed the variation of the magnetic nee- 
dle, and he published, navigatione nelle parte settentrionale, Venice, 
1583, folio. He published also a large map, which was engraved 
by Clement Adams, and hung up in the privy gallery at Whitehall j 
and on this map was inscribed a Latin account of the discovery of 
Nevvfoundland.-j-^e/Xrwc/z'a Jmer. biog. i. 149 — 158 ; Massa, 
magazineyU. 467 — 471; Hakluyt/i. 226,268,274 ; Campbell's lives 
admirals, i. 419 ; Hees' cyclofigdia. 

CADWALLADER ( ),an eminent physician of Philadel- 
phia, published about the year 1740 a treatise on the iliac passion, 
in which he explodes the then common practice of giving quicksil- 
ver and drastic purges, and recommends in their place mild cathar- 
tics with the occasional use of opiates. Before this there were but 
few publications on medical subjects in America. Dr. Boylston 
had written on the small pox, and his treatise was perhaps the ear- 
liest one, which was published.. — Ra7nsay's review of medicine, 36. 

CALEF (Robert), a merchant of Boston, was distinguished 
about the time of the witchcraft delusion by his withstanding the 
credulity of the times. After the reverend Dr. Cotton Mather 
had published a work, entitled, the wonders of the invisible world, 
from which it appears, that he was by no means incredulous with 
regard to the stories then in circulation, Mr. Calef published a 
book on the opposite side, entitled, more Avonders of the invisible 
world, London, 1700. As he censured the proceedings of the 
courts respecting the witches at a time, Avhen the people of the 
country in general did not see their error, he gave great offence. 
But he is thought to be faithful in his narration of facts. He died 
in 1720.— 'Huichinson, ii. 54 ; Collections hist, sac. iii. 300. 

CALLENDER (Elisha), minister of the first baptist church in 
Boston, was the son of the reverend Ellis Callender, who was min^ 
ister of the same church from 1708 till 1726. In early life the 
blessings of divine grace were imparted to him. He was graduated, 
at Harvard college in the year 1710. At his ordination, which took 
place May 21, 1718, the reverend Drs. Increase and Cotton Math- 
er, and the reverend Mr, Webb, though of a different denomination^ 
gave their assistance. He was very faithful, and successful in the 
pastoral office till his death March 31, 1738. He was succeeded 
by the reverend Mr. Condy. A few days before his death he said j 
" when I look on one hand, I see nothing but sin, guilt, and dis- 
couragement i but when I look on the other, I see my glorious 
Savior, and the merits of his precious blood, which cleanseth from 
all sin. I cannot say, that I have such transports of joy, as some 
have had ; but through grace I can say, I have gotten the victory 
over death and the grave." The last words, which fell from his 
lips, were, " I shall sleep in Jesus." His life was unspotted ; his 
opnvfi'sation was always affable, religious, and dignified ; and his 



15.0 CAL. 

end was peaceful and s&rene.-—L'ackus' church history of Aew Engm 
land, iii. 124; Backus' abridgment^ 157; Boston eveninif fwsl, 
J/iril 3, 1738. 

CALLENDER (John), an eminent baptist minister and writer 
in Rhode Island, was a nephew of the reverend Elishu Callender of 
Boston and was graduated at Harvard college in 1723. He was 
ordained colleague with elder Pcckom as pastor of the church at 
Newport October 13, 1731. This was the second baptist church 
in America. It was lounded in the year 1644. Mr. Callender died 
January 26, 1748, in the forty second year of his age. He was a 
man of very considerable powers of mind, and was distinguished 
for his candor and piety. He collected many pr.pers relating to the 
history of the baptists in this country, which were used by Mr. Back- 
us. He published in 1739 a historical discourse on the civil and 
religious affairs of the colony of Rhode Island ke. from the settle- 
ment in 1638 to the end of the first century. This is but a small 
work ; yet it is the only history .of Rhode Island, which has been 
written, and it is honorable to its author. He published also a ser- 
mon at the ordination of the reverend Jeremiah Condy, Boston, 
February 14, 1739, and a sermon on the death of the reverend Mr. 
Clap of Newport, 1745. — Backus' church history of JVciv England^ 
iii. 229. 

CALVERT (Geoiige), baron of Baltimore, founder oi the prov- 
ince of Maryland, Avas descended from a noble family in Flanders, 
and v/as born at Kipling in Yorkshire, England, in 1582. After 
taking his bachelor's degree at Trinity college, Oxford, in 1597, 
he travelled over the continent of Europe. At his return to Eng- 
land in the beginning of the reign of James I, he was taken into the 
oflPice of sir Robert Cecil, secretary of state, by whose favor he was 
made clerk of the privy council, and received the honor of knight- 
hood. In 1619 he was appointed one of the principal secretaries 
of state in the room of sir Thomas Lake. His great knowledge of 
public business and his diligence and fidelity conciliated the regard 
of the king, who gave him a pension of a thousand pounds out of 
the customs. In 1624 he became a Roman catholic, and having 
disclosed his new principles to the king resigned his ofBce. He 
was continued, however, a member of the privy coimcil, and was 
created baron of Baltimore in the kingdom of Ireland in 1625, at 
which time he represented the university of Oxford in parliament. 

While he was secretary of the state he was constituted by patent 
proprietor of the southeastern peninsula of Newfoundland, Avhich 
he named the province of Avalon. He spent twenty five thousand 
pounds in advancing his plantation, and visited it twice in person ; 
but it was so annoyed by the French, that, though he once repulsed 
and pin-sucd their ships and took sixty prisoners, he was obliged to 
abandon it. Being still inclined to form a settlement in America, 
M'liither he might retire with his family and friends of the same re- 



CAL. 151 

llijious principles, he made a visit to Virginia, the fertility and ad- 
vantages of which province had been highly celebrated, and in 
which he had been interested as one ot the adventurers. But 
meeting with an unwelcome reception on account of his religion, 
and observing, that the Virginians had not extended their planta- 
tions beyond the Patowmac, he fixed his attention upon the territory 
northward of this river, and as soon as he returned to England, ob- 
tained a grant of it from Charles I. But owing to the tetdous 
forms of public business, before a patent was completed he died at 
London April 15, 1632, in the fifty first year of his age. After 
his death the patent was again drawn in the nume of his eldest son 
Cecil, who succeeded to his honors, and it passed the seals June 20, 
1632. The country was called Maryland in honor of Henrietta 
Maria, the queen consort of Charles I. From the great precision 
of this charter, the powers, which it confers upon the proprietor, 
and the privileges and exemptions, which it grants to the people, it 
is evident, that it was written by sir George himself. The liberal 
code of religious toleration, which it established, is very honorable 
to him, and was respected by his son, who carried his design into 
execution. 

Sir George was conspicuous for his good sense and moderation. 
All parties wei'e pleased with him. Not being obstinate in his 
opinions he took as much pleasure in hearing the sentiments of oth- 
ers, as in delivering his own. In his views of establishing foreign 
plantations he thought, that the original inhabitants, instead of be- 
ing exterminated, should be civilized and converted ; that the gov- 
ernors should not be interested merchants, but gentlemen not con- 
cerned in trade ; and that every one should be left to provide for 
himself by his own industry without dependence on a common 
interest. 

He published carmen funebre inD. Hen. Untonum, 1596 ; par- 
liamentary speeches ; various letters of state ; the answer of Tom 
Tell Troth, the practice of princes and the lamentation of the 
kirk, 1642. He also wrote something respecting Maryland, but 
it is thought it was never printed. — ^ielkna/i's Jmer. biog. ii. 363— 
368 ; Biog. Brit. ; Hardie's biog. diet. ; Rees ; IVood's Athena 
Ozon.i. 566 ; Keith, 142. 

CALVERT (Leonard), the first governor of Maryland, was 
the brother of Cecilius Calvert, the proprietor, who sent him to 
America as the head of the colony in 1633. After a circuitous 
voyage he arrived, accompanied by his brother George Calvert, and 
about two hundred persons of good families and of the Roman 
catholic persuasion, at point Comfort in Virginia February 24, 1634, 
On the third of March he proceeded in the bay of Chcsapeak to 
the northward, and entered the Patowmac, up which he sailed 
twelve leagiies, and came to an anchor under an island, v/hich he 
n'amed St. Clement's. Here he fired his cannon, erected a cross, 



152 CAL. 

and took possession " in the name of the Sa\i6r of the world and of 
the king of England." Tlienee he went fifteen leagues higher to 
tlie Indian town of Patowmac on the Virginia side of the river, now 
called New Marlborough, where he was received in a friendly man- 
ner by the guardian regent, the prince of the country being a minor. 
Thence he sailed twelve leagues higher to the town of Piscataway 
on the Maryland sidcj where he found Henry Fleet, an Englishman, 
who had resided several years among the natives, and was held by 
them in great esteem. This man was very serviceable as an 
interpreter. An interview having been procured with the Wero- 
wance, or prince, Calvert asked him, whether he was willing, that a 
settlement should be made in his country. He replied, " I will 
not bid you go, neither will I bid you stay ; but you may use your 
own discretion." Having convinced the natives, that his designs 
were honorable and pacific, the governor now sought a more suit- 
able station for commencing his colony. He visited a creek on the 
northern side of the Patowmac about four leagues from its mouth, 
where was an Indian village. Here he acquainted the prince of the 
place with his intentions, and by presents to him and his principal 
men conciliated his friendship so much, as to obtain permission to 
reside in one part of the town until the next harvest, when, it was 
stipulated, the natives should entirely quit the place. Both parties 
fcntered into a contract to live together in a friendly manner. After 
Calvert had given a satisfactory consideration, the Indians readily 
yielded a number of their houses, and retired to the others. As 
the season for planting corn had now arrived, both parties went to 
work. Thus on the twenty seventh of March 1634 the governor 
took peaceable possession of the country of Maryland, and gave to 
the town the name of St. Mary's, and to the creek, on Avhich it was 
situated, the name of St. George's. The desire of rendering jus- 
tice to the natives by giving them a reasonable compensation for 
their lands is a trait in the character of the first planters, which will 
always do honor to their memory. 

The colony had brought with them meal from England ; but 
Ihcy found Indian corn in great plenty both at Barbadoes and Vir- 
ginia, and by the next spring they were able to export a thousand 
bushels to New England and Newfoundland, for which they receiv- 
ed in return dried fish and other provisions. The Indians also 
killed many deer and turkies, which they sold to the English for 
knives, beads, and other small articles of traffic. Cattle, swine, and 
poultry were procured from Virginia. The province M'as estab- 
lished on the broad foundation of security to property, and of free- 
dom in religion. Fifty acres of land were granted in absolute fee 
to every emigrant, and Christianity was established without allowing 
preeminence to any particular sect. This liberal policy rendered 
a Roman catholic colony an asylum for those, who were driven 
from New England by the persecutions, which were there experi- 
enced from protestants^.- 



CAM. li(S 

The goternor built a house at St. Mary's for himself and his 
successors, and superintended the aflFairs of>the country, till the 
civil war in England, when the name of a papist became so obnox- 
ious, that the parliament assumed the government of the province, 
and appointed a rtew governor. Of Leonard Calvert no further ac- 
count has been procured. 

Cecilius Calvert, the proprietor, recovered his right to the prov- 
ince upon the restoration of king Charles II in 1660, and within a 
year or two appointed his son Charles the goveraor. He died 
in 1676 covered with age and reputation, and v/as succeeded by his 

son Bdknafi'sAmer. biog. ii. 372—380 ; Holmes* annals^ ii. 274 ; 

Univ. hist. xl. 468 ; Europ. settlements^ ii. 228 ; Brit, emfi. in 
America., i. 324- — 330 ; Morse's geog, 

CAMPBELL (John), first minister of Oxford, Massachusetts, 
was a native of Scotland, and was educated at Edinburgh. He 
came to this country in 1717. He was ordained pastor of Oxford, 
a town settled by French protestants, March 11, 172 1. He contin- 
ued faithfully to discharge the duties of his sacred office, until his 
death, March 25, 1761, in the seventy first year of his age, and the 
forty second of his ministry. He was succeeded by the reverend 
Joseph Bowman, who had been a missionary among the Mohawk 
Indians. — Whitnexfs history of Worcester, 84. 

CANER (Henry, d.d.), minister of king's chapel in Boston, 
was graduated at Yale college in 1724. In the following year he 
began to read prayers in an episcopal church at Fairfield in Con- 
necticut. In 1727 he went to England for ordination, and was ap- 
pointed missionary for that town. His occasional services at Nor- 
walk promoted the interest of the church ; and it was not long be- 
fore he had a respectable congregation there as well as at Fairfield. 
Having been chosen rector of the first episcopal church in Boston, 
he was inducted into this office April 1 1,1747. Here he continued, 
till the commencement of the American revolution obiic^cd him to 
retire from Boston. He left the church March 17,1775. From 
this period he resided, it is believed, in England till his death, which 
took place at the close of the year 1792, when in the ninety third 
year of his age. 

He published a sermon on Matthew vii. 28, 29, entitled, the true 
nature and method of christian preaching. He supposes the ser- 
mon on the mount was addressed to the disciples, and concludes 
frdm this circumstance, that " when we preach to christians, we 
are not to spend time in exhorting them to believe, for that their 
very profession supposes they do already ; but to press and persuade 
them to live as becomes christians, to be found in the practice of all 
moral duties." Mr. Jonathan Dickinson, in his vindication of God's 
sovereign, free grace, answers this sermon, and endeavors to show, 
that Christ and his apostles, even when in their preaching they ad- 
.20 



154 CAR. 

dressed themselves to professing christians, dwelt much upon re- 
pentance and faith, as well as moral duties. 

Mr. Caner published also funeral sermons on the death of Cherries 
Apthorp, esquire, 1758; on the death of Frederic, prince of Wales, 
1751 ; on the death of the reverend Dr. Cutler, 1765 — Chandler's 
life of Johnson^ 62 ; Collections hint. sac. iii. 260 ; Columbian ccnti- 
nel,Feb. 13, 179S. 

CARLETON (Guy), lord Dorchester, a distinguished British 
officer in America, was appointed a brigadier general in this coun- 
try in 1766. He was made major general in 1772. At the close 
of the year 1774 a commission passed the seals, constituting him 
captain general and governor of Quebec. When Canada was in- 
vaded by Montgomery in 1775, Carleton was in the most imminent 
danger of being taken prisoner upon the St. Lawrence after the 
capture of Montreal ; but he escaped in a boat with muflled pad- 
dles, and arrived safely at Quebec, which he found threatened 
by an unexpected enemy. Arnold, though he had been repuls- 
ed by colonel Maclean, was yet m the neighborhood of the city, 
waiting for the arrival of Montgomery previously to another 
attack. General Carleton with the skill of an experienced officer 
took the necessiU'y measures for the security of the city. His first 
act was to oblige all to leave Quebec, who would not take up arms 
in its defence. When Montgomery approached, his summons was- 
treated with contempt by the governor, whose intrepidity was not 
to be shaken. By his industry and bravery Carleton saved the city. 
After the unsuccessful assault of the last of December, in which 
Montgomery was killed, he had nothmg more immediately to ap»-^ 
prehend. In may 1776 he obliged the Americans to raise the 
siege, and it was not long before he compelled them to withdraw 
entirely from Canada. In October he recaptured Crown Point ; 
but as the winter was advancing, he did not attempt the reduction of 
Ticonderoga, but returned to St. John's. In the beginning of the 
next year he was superseded in his command by Burgoyne, who 
was entrvrstcd with the northern British army. Carleton's experi- 
ence, and abilities, and services were such, as rendered him worthy 
of the command, which was given to another. Though he imme- 
diately asked leave to resign his government, he yet contributed all 
his power to secure the success of the campaign. 

In the year 1782 he was appointed,, as successor of sir Henry 
Clinton, commander in chief of all his majesty's forces in America. 
He arrived at New York with his commission in the beginning of 
May. After the treaty was signed he delayed for some time the 
evacuation of the city from regard to the safety of the loyalists ^ 
but on the twenty fifth of November 1783 he embarked and with- 
drew the British ships from the shores of America. He died in 
England at the close of the year 1808 in the eighty fourth year of 
his age. 



CAR. 155 

General Carlcton was a brave and an able officer, and he rendered 
important services to nis country. Though he was not conciliating 
in his manners, and possessed the severity of the soldier, yet his hu- 
manity to the American prisoners, whom he took in Canada, has 
been much praised. In excuse for the litttle attention, which he 
paid to the honorable burial of Montgomery, it can only be said, that 
he regarded him as a rebel.— ^Stedman, i. 133 — 142, 232, 318 ; 
jinnuaL register, xvii. 189 ; xix. 2—16 ; 151 — 135 ; xx. 2 — 6, 
141__144 ; Warren's hist, revolution^ ii. 2, 3 ; iii. 2 17, 252, 311. 

CARRIER (Thomas), remarkable for longevity, died at Colches- 
ter, Connecticut, May 1 6, 1735, aged one hundred and nine years. He 
was born in the west of England and I'emoved thence to Andover, 
Massachusetts. His wife suffered at Salem in the witchcraft delu- 
sion. He had lived at Colchester about twenty years, and was a 
member of the church in that town. His head in his last years was not 
bald, nor his hair gray. Not many days before his death he travel- 
led on foot to see a sick man six miles, and the very day before he 
died he was visiting his neighbors. — JVew England weekly journal^ 
June 9, 1735. 

CARTIER (James), a French navigator, who made important 
discovei'ies in Canada, was a native of St. Malo. After the voyage of 
the Cabotsthe French learned the value of their discoveries, and in 
a few years began the cod fishery upon the banks of Newfoundland. 
In 1524 John Verazzani, a Florentine, in the service ot France, rang- 
ed the coast of the new continent from Florida to Newfoundland. 
From a subsequent voyage in 1 525 he never returned, and it is sup- 
posed, that he was cut to pieces and devoured by the savages. His 
fate discouraged other attempts to discover the new world till the 
importance of having a colony in the neighborhood of the fishing 
banks induced Francis I to send out Cartier in 1534. He sailed 
from St. Malo on the twentieth of April in this year with two ships 
of sixty tons and a hundred and twenty two men. On the tenth of 
May he came in sight of Bonavista on the Island of Newfoundland ; 
but the ice obliged him to go to the south, and he entered a harbor 
at the distance of five ileagues, to which he gave the name of St. 
Catherine. As soon as the season would permit he sailed north- 
ward, and entered the straits of Bellis'e. In this voyage he vis- 
ited the greater part of the coast, which surrounds the gulph of St. 
Lawrence, and took possession of the country in the name of the 
king ; he discovered a bay, which he called baye des Chaleurs, 
on account of the sultry weather, which he experienced in it ; he 
sailed so far into the great river, afterwards called the St. Law- 
rence, as to discover land on the opposite side. On the fifteenth of 
August he set sail on his return, and arrived at St. Malo on the 
fifth of September. 

When his discoveries were known in France, it was determined 
to make a settlement in that part of America, which he had visited. 
Accordingly in the following year he received a more ample com- 



156 CAR. 

mission, and was equipped with three vessels. When he was ready 
to depart, he went to the cathedral church with his whole company, 
and the bishop gave them his benediction. He sailed May 19, 1535. 
He experienced a severe storm on his passage, butin July he reach- 
ed the destined port. He entered the gulph as in the preceding 
year, being accompanied by a number of young men of distinc- 
tion. He sailed up the St. Lawrence and discovered an island, 
which he named Bacchus, but which is now called Orleans, in the 
neighborhood of Quebec. This island was full of inhabitants, who 
subsisted by fishing. He went on shore and the natives brought 
him Indian corn for his refresliment. With his pinnace and two 
boats he proceeded up the river as far as Hochelaga, a settlement 
upon an island, which he called Mont-royal, but which is now called 
Montreal. In this Indian town were about fifty long huts, built 
■with stakes, and covered with bark. The people lived mostly by 
fishing and tillage. They had corn, beans, squashes, and pumpkins. 
In two or three days he set out on his return, and arrived at port de 
St. Croix, not far from Quebec, on the fourth of October. Here 
he passed the winter. In December the scurvy began to make its 
appearance among the natives, and in a short time Cai'tier's compa- 
ny were seized by the disorder. By the middle of February, of 
one himdred and ten persons fifty were sick at once, and eight or 
ten had died. In this extremity he appointed a day of humiliation. 
A crucifix was placed on a tree, a procession of those, who were 
able to walk, was formed, and at the close of the devotional exer- 
cises, Cartier made a vow, that " if it should please God to permit 
him to return to France, he would go in pilgrimage to our lady of 
Roquemado." The sick were all healed by using a medicine, 
which was employed with success by the natives. This was a de- 
coction of the leaves and bark of a tree. The liquor was drunk 
every other day, and an external application was made to the legs. 
Charlevoix says, tlie tree was that, which yielded turpentine, and 
Dr. Belknap thinks it was the spruce pine. In May he set sail on 
his return to France, and arrived at St. Malo July 6, 1536. 

At the end of four years another expedition was projected. Fran- 
cois de la Roque, lord of Roberval, was commissioned by the king 
as his lieutenant governor in Canada ; and Cartier was appointed 
his pilot with the command of five ships. Cartier sailed in 1540 or 
1541, and a few leac(ues above St. Croix in the river St. Lawrence, 
he built a fort, which he called Charlebourg. In the spring of 1542, 
he determined to return to France, and accordingly in June arrived 
at St. John's in Newfoundland on his way home. Here he met 
Roberval, who did not accompany him in his voyage, and who had 
been detained till this time. He was ordered to return to Canada, 
but he chose to pui"r,ue his voyage to France, a.id sailed out of the 
harbor privately in the night. Roberval attem]>ted to establish a 
cojony, but it was soon broken up, and the French did not establish 



CAR. 137 

themselves permanently in, Canada till aCter the expiration of half 
a century. 

Cartier published memoirs of Canada after his second voyage. 
The names, which he gave to islands, rivers, &c. are now entirely 
changed. In this work he shows, that he possessed a good share 
of the credulity or the exaggeration of travellers. Being one day 
in the chase he says, that he pursued a beast, which had but two 
legs, and which ran with astonishing rapidity. This strange ani- 
mal was probably an Indian, clothed with the skin of some wild 
beast. He speaks also of human monsters of different kinds, of 
which accounts had been given him. Some of them lived without 
ea.ting.-—Belkna/i*s Jmer. biography, i. 159 — 184 ; Charlevoix, hist, 
de la nowvelle France, introd. xx ; i. 8 — 22, edit. 4to ; Hakluyt, iii. 
186, 201 — 240 ; Holmes' annals, \. 84 — 86, 89, 92 ; Priiice, introd. 
89, 90, 93 ; Purchas, i. 931, 932 ; v. 1605 ; Forster's voy. 437— 
448 ; Univer. hist, xxxix. 407. 

CARVER (John), first governor of Plymouth colony, was a 
native of England, and was among the emigrants to Leyden, who 
composed Mr. Robinson's church in that place. When a removal 
to America was contemplated, he was appointed one of the agents 
to negotiate with the Virginia company in England for a suitable 
territory. He obtained a patent in 1619, and in the following year 
came to New England with the first company. Two vessels had 
been procured, the one called the Speedwell and the other the May- 
flower, which sailed from Southampton, carrying one hundred and 
twenty passengers, on the fifth of August 1620. As one of the 
vessels proved leaky, they both put into Dartmouth for repairs. 
They put to sea again August 21, but the same cause, after they 
had sailed about a hundred leagues, obliged them to put back to 
Plymouth. The Speedwell was there pronounced unfit for the 
voyage. About twenty of the passengers went on shore. The 
others were received on board the Mayflower, which sailed with 
one hundred and one passengers besides the ship's officers and crew, 
on the sixth of September. During the voyage the weather was 
unfavorable, and the ship being leaky the people were almost con- 
tinually wet. One young man died at sea, and a child was bom, the 
son of Stephen Hopkins, which was called Oceanus, On the ninth 
of November, they discovered the white, sandy shores of cape Cod. 
As this land was northward of Hudson's river, to which they were 
destined, the ship was immediately put about to the southward ; but 
the appearance of breakers and the danger from shoals, together 
with the eagerness of the women and children to be set on shore 
induced them to shift their course again to the north. The next 
day the northern extremity of the cape was doubled, and the ship 
was safely anchored in the harbor of cape Cod. As they were with- 
out the territory of the south Virginia company, from whom they had 
jreceivecl tlie charter, which was thus rendered useless, and as they 



158 CAR. 

perceived the absolute necessity of government, it was thought 
proper beiore they landed, that a political association should be 
formed, entrusting all powers in the hands of the majority. Ac- 
cordingly after solemn prayers and thanksgiving a written instru- 
ment vv^as subscribed on the eleventh of November 1620 by forty 
one persons out of one hundred and one, the whole number of pas- 
sengers of all descriptions on board. Mr. Carver's name stood 
first, and he was unanimously elected governor for one year. Gov- 
ernment being thus regularly established on a truly republican 
principle, sixteen armed nicn were sent on shore the same day to 
procure wood and make discoveries. They returned at night, hav- 
ing seen no house nor a human benig. The next day was Simday, 
and it was observed as a day of rest. While tl'.ey lay in this har- 
bor, during the space of five weeks, a number of excursions were 
made by the direction of the governor. In one of them Mr. Brad- 
ford's foot was caught in a deer trap, which was made by bending a 
young tree to the earth, with a noose under ground, covered with 
acorns. But his companions disengaged him from his unpleasant 
situation. An Indian burying ground was discovered, and in one 
of the graves were found a mortar, an earthern pot, a bow and ar- 
rows, and other implements, all of which were carefully replaced. 
A more important discovery was a cellar, filled with seed corn in 
cars, of which they took as much as they could carry away, after 
reasoning for sometime upon the morality of the action, and resolv- 
ing to satisfy the owners, when they should find them. In other 
expeditions a number of bushels of corn were obtained, the acquisi- 
tion of which at a time, when it was much needed, they regarded 
as a peculiar favor of divine providence. In six months the own- 
ers were remunerated to their entire satisfaction. 

On Wednesday, the sixth of December, govenior Carver him- 
self, with nine of the principal men, well armed, and the same 
number of seamen, set sail in the shallop to make further discove- 
ries. The weather was so cold, that the spray of the sea froze on 
their coats, till they were cased with ice, like coats of iron. They 
coasted along the cape, and occasionally a party was set on shore. 
At the dawn of day on Friday, December the eighth, those, who 
"Were on the land, were surprised by the sudden war cry of the na- 
tives, and a flight of arrows. They immediately seized their arms, 
and on the first discharge of musquetry the Indians fled. Eighteen 
arrows were taken up, headed either with brass, deer's horns, or 
birds' claws, which they sent as a present to their friends in Eng- 
land. As they sailed along the shore, they were overtaken by a 
storm, and the rudder being broken and the shallop driven into a 
cove full of breakers, tlicy all expected to perish. By much exer- 
tion, however, they came to anchor in a fair sound under a point of 
land. While they weie divided in opinion with respect to landing 
at this place, ihv severity of the weather compelled them to go on 



CAR. 159 

shore. In the morning of Saturday they found themselves on a 
small uninhabited island, which has ever since borne the name of 
Clarke's island from the mate of the ship, the first man, who stepped 
upon it. As the next day was the christian sabbath, they appro- 
priated it to those religious purposes, for which it was set apart. 
On Monday, December the eleventh, they surveyed the bay, and 
went ashore upon the main land at the place, which they called 
Plymouth, and a part of the very rock, on which they first set their 
feet, is now in the public square of the town, and is distinguished by 
the name of the forefathers' rock. The day of their landing, the 
twenty second of December in the new style, is at the present age 
regarded as an annual festival. 

As they marched into the country they found corn fields, and 
brooks, and an excellent situation for building. With the news of 
their success they returned to their company, and on the sixteenth 
of December the ship came to anchor in the harbor. The high 
ground on the southwest side of the bay was pitched upon as th© 
site of the contemplated town, and a street and house lots were 
immediately laid out. It was also resolved to plant their ordnance 
upon a commanding eminence,^ which overlooked the plain. Be- 
fore the end of December they had erected a storehouse with si 
thatched roof, in which their goods were deposited under a guard. 
Two rows of houses were begun, and as fast as they could be cov- 
ered, the people, who were classed into nineteen families, came 
ashore, and lodged in them. On the last of December tiie public 
services of religion were attended for the first time on the shore, 
and the place was named Plymouth, both because it was so called 
in captain Smith's map, published a few years before, and in re- 
membrance of the kind treatment, which they had received from 
the inhabitants of Plymouth, the last port of their native country, 
from which they sailed. The severe hardships, to which this com- 
pany were exposed in so rigorous a climate, and the scorbutic ' 
habits contracted by living so long on board the ship caused a great 
mortality among them, so that before the month of April near one 
half of them died. Governor Cai'ver was himself dangerously iU 
in January. On the fourteenth of that month, as he lay sick at the 
storehouse, the building took fire by means of the thatched roof, 
and it was with difficulty, that the stock of ammunition was preserved. 
By the beginning of March he was so far recovered of his first ill- 
ness, that he was able to walk three miles to visit a large pond, which 
had been discovered from the top of a tree by Francis Billington, 
whose name it has since borne. None of the natives were seen be- 
foi'e the sickness among the planters had abated. The pestilence, 
which raged in the country four years before, had almost depopulat- 
ed it. On the sixteenth of March a savage came boldly into the 
town alone, and to the astonishment of the emigrants addressed 
them in these words, " welcome, Englishmen ! Welcome Eng- 



160 CAR. 

lishmen V His name was Samoset, and he was sagamore of Mo- 
ratiggon, distant five days' journey to the eastward. He had learned 
broken English of the fishermen in his country. By him the gov- 
ernor was informed, that the place, where they now were, was called 
Patuxet, and though it was formerly populous that every human 
being had died of the late pestilence. This account was con- 
firmed by the extent of the deserted fields, the number of graves, 
andtheremnantsof skeletons, lying on the ground. Being dismissed 
■with a present, he returned the next day with five of the Indians, 
■who lived in the neighborhood, and who brought a few skins for 
trade. He was sent out again in a few days and on the twenty sec- 
ond of March returned with Squanto, the only native of Patuxet 
then living. Having been carried olT by Hunt in 1614 he escaped 
the pestilence, which desolated his country. He had learned the 
English language at London, and came back to his native country 
with the fishermen. They informed the planters, thut Masassoit, 
the sachem of the neighboring Indians, was near with his brother, 
and a number of his people ; and within an hour he appeared on 
the top of a hill over against the English town with a train of sixty 
men. Mutual distrust prevented for some time any advances upon 
either side ; but Mr. Winslow being sent to the Indian king with a 
copper chain and two knives, with a friendly message from the gov- 
ernor, the sachem was pleased to descend from the hill, accompa- 
nied by twenty men unarmed. Captain Standish met him at the 
brook at the head of six men with musquets, and escorted him to 
one of the best houses, where three or four cushions were placed 
on a green rug, spread over the floor. The governor came in, 
preceded by a drum and trumpet, the sound of which greatly de- 
lighted the Indians. After mutual salutations, the governor kissing 
his majesty's hand, refreshments were ordered. A league of 
friendship was then agreed on, which was inviolably observed for 
above fifty years. The articles of the treaty Avere the following, 
" that neither he nor his should injure any of ours ; that if they did 
he should send the offender, that we might punish hin^ ; that if our 
tools were taken away, he should restore them, and if ours did any 
harm to any of his, vre would do the like to them ; that if any un- 
justly warred against him, we would aid him, and if any warred 
against us he should aid us ; that he should certify his neighbor 
confederates of this, that they might not wrong us, but be compris- 
ed in the coiiditions of peace ; that when their men came to us they 
should leave their bows and arrows behind them, as we should leav« 
our pieces, when we came to them ; that in doing thus king JameS 
would esteem him as his friend and ally." After the treaty, the 
governor conducted Masassoit to the brook, where they embraced 
each other and parted. 

The next day, March the twenty third, a few laws were enacted, 
and Mr. Carver was confirmed as governor for the following year. 



CAR. IGl 

In the beginning of April twenty acres of land were prepared for 
the reception of Indian corn, and Samoset and Squanto taught the 
emigrants how to plant, and dress it with herrings, of which an im- 
mense (jiuintity came into the brooks. Six acres were sowed with 
barley and peas. While they were engaged in this labor on the 
fifth of April, the governor came out of the field at noon, complaining 
of a pain in his head, caused by the heat of the sun. In a few hours 
it deprived him of his senses, and in a few days put an end to his 
life to the gi*eat grief of the infant plantation. He was buried Avith 
all the honors, which could be paid to his memory. The men 
•were under arms, and fired seveial volUes over his grave. His wife, 
overcome by her loss, survived him but six Aveeks. 

Governor Carver was distinguished for his prudence, integrity, 
and firmness. He had a good estate in England, which he spent in 
the emigration to Holland and America. He exerted himself to 
promote the interests of the colony, he bore a large share of its 
sufferings, and the people confided in him as their friend and fa- 
ther. Piety, humility, and benevolence were eminent traits in his 
character. In the time of the general sickness, which befel the 
colony, after he had himself recovered, he was assiduous in attend- 
ing the sick and performing the most humiliating services for them 
without any distinction of persons or characters. He was succeed- 
ed in the office of governor by Mr. Bradford. One of his grand- 
sons, who lived in Marshfield, reached the age of one hundred and 
two years. The broad sword of governor Carver is deposited in 
the cabinet of the Massachusetts historical society in Boston. — Bel- 
knafi's Amer. biographif., ii. 179 — 216 ; Prince.^ 66 — 104 ; Holmes' 
annals, i. 200 — 203, 207 — 210 ; Hardie's diog. diet. ; Purchas,v. 
1842—1850 ; Morton, i. 33 ; Univers. hist, xxxix. 272 ; JVeal's 
JV. England, i. 99 ; H. Jdams' A*. England, 15. 

CARVER (Jonathan), an enterprising tra\^Iler, was a native 
of Connecticut, and was bom in 1732. He lost his father, who was 
a justice of the peace, when he was only five years of age. He was 
intended for the profession of medicine, which he quitted for a mil- 
itary life. In the French war he commanded an independent com- 
pany of provincials in the expedition carried on acioss the lakes 
against Canada. He served with reputation till the peace of 1763. 
After this he formed the resolution of exploring the most interior 
parts of North America and of even penetrating to the Pacific ocean 
over that broad part of the continent. Which lies between the forty 
third and the forty sixth degrees of north latitude. As the English 
had come in possession of a vast territory by the conquest of Cana- 
da, he wished to render this acquisition profitable to his country, 
while he gratified his taste for adventures. He believed, that the 
French had intentionaUy kept other nations ignorant of the interior 
parts of North America. He hoped to facilitate the discovery of a 
north west passage, or of a communication between Hvidson's bay 



162 CAR. 

and the Pacific ocean. If he could effect the establishment of a. 
post on the straits of Annian, he supposed he should thus open a 
channel for conveyins; intelligence to China and the English settic- 
mcnls in the East Indies with greater expedition, than by a tedious 
voyage by the cape of Good Hope, or the straits of Magellan. 

With these views he set out from Boston in 1766, and in Sep- 
tember of that year arrived at Michiliiniakinac, the most interior 
English post. He applied to the governor, Mr. Rogers, to furnish 
him with a proper assortment of goods, as a present tor the Indians 
living in the track, which he intended to pursue. Receiving a sup- 
ply in part, it was promised that tlie remainder should be sent to 
him, when he reached the. falls of St. Anthony in the river Missis- 
sippi. In consequence of the failure of the goods he found it ne- 
cessary to return to la Prairc la Chien in the spring of 1 767. Being 
thus retarded in his progress westward, he determined to direct ins 
course northward, that by finding a communication between the 
Mississippi and lake Superior, he might meet the traders at the 
grand portage on the nortliwest side of the lake. Of them he in- 
tended to purchase the goods, which he needed, and then to pursue 
his journey by the way ot the lakes la Pluye, Dubois, and Ouini- 
pique to the he ids of the river of the west. He reached lake Supe- 
rior before the traders had returded to Michillim ikinac, but they 
coidd not furnish him with goods. Thus disappointed a second time, 
he continued some months on the north and east borders of lake 
Superior, exploring the bays and rivers, which empty themselves 
into that large l)ody of water, and carefully observing the natural 
productions of the co\mtry, and the customs and manners of the in-' 
habitants. He arrived at Boston in October 1768, having been ab- 
sent on this expedition two years and five months, and during that 
time travelled near seven thousand miles. 

As soon as he had properly digested his journal and charts, he 
went to England to publish them. On his arrival he presented a 
petition to his majesty in council for a reimbursement of the sums, 
which he had expended in the service of government. This was 
Teferred to the lords commissioners of trade and plantations, by 
whom he was examined in regard to his discoveries. Having obtaia- 
cd permission to publisli his pa^^ers, he disposed of them to a booksel- 
ler. When they were almost ready for the press, an order was issued 
from the council board, requiring him to deliver into the plantation 
office all his charts and journals, with every paper relating to the 
discoveries, which he had made. In order to obey this command 
he was obliged to repurchase them from the bookseller. It wa» 
not until ten years after, that he published an account of his travels. 
Being disappointed in his hopes of preferment, he became clerk of 
the lottery. As he sold his name to a historical compilation, which 
Was published in 1779 in folio, entitled, the new universal traveller, 
attaining an account of all the empires, kingdoms, and states in the 



CAR. 163 

known world, lie was abandoned by those, whose duty it was to sup- 
port him, and he died in want of the common necessaries of life in 
1780, aged forty eight years. 

Captain Carver published a tract on the culture of tobacco ; and 
travels through the interior parts of Nortli America in the years 
1766, 1767, and 1768, London, 8vo, 1778. An edition of this work 
was published at Boston in 17 97 .-—Introduction to. Ms travels j J\''eitf 
and general ■diog. diet. ; Wat kins. 

CARY (Thomas), minister in Newburyport, Massachusetts, was 
the son of Samuel Cary, esquire, of Charlestown,and was boi'n Oc- 
tober 18, 1-745. He was graduated at Harvard college in 1761. 
After leaving the university, he was employed as an instructer of 
youth. While preparing more immediately for the sacred office 
of a minister of the gospel, he resided in Haverhill, where he enjoy- 
ed the counsels and instructions of the reverend Mr. Barnard, a 
man of distinction, whom he highly respected and affectionately 
loved. He was ordained as successor of the reverend Mr. Lowell, 
pastor of the first church in Newburyport, May 11, 1768. One 
third of the church and congregation, being dissatisfied with the 
choice of Mr. Cary, were formed into a separate society ; but such 
was the prudence and integrity of his conduct, that they acknowl- 
edged his life and conversation to be in accordance with the gospel) 
which he preached. For near twenty years he was enabled to per- 
form all the duties of the ministerial office, but in the forty third 
year of his age, it pleased God by a pitralytic stroke to remove him 
from his public labors. After this event, the reverend Mr. An- 
drews was ordained as his colleague December 10, 1788. From 
this period until about two years before his death Mr. Cary was so 
•far restored to health, as to be able occasionally to perform the pub- 
lic offices of religion. He died November 24, 1808, in the six- 
ty fourth year of his age. 

Mr. Cary possessed a strong and comprehensive mind, which was 
highly cultivated by reading, observation, reflection, and prayer. 
His sermons were plain, forcible, sententious, and altogether practi- 
cal. He was not ashamed to be called a rational Christian, Though 
'he read writers on all sides of theological questions ; yet those were 
his favorite authors, who treated the doctrines and duties oi Christ- 
ianity in a rational manner. (.'andid towards those, who differed 
from him in opinioi^, he sincerely respected the free and honest in^ 
quirer after truth. His feelings were keen and his passions strong ; 
but it was the great business of his life, and the subject of his earn- 
est prayers, to reduce them to the government of reason and the 
gospel. In the various relations of life he conciliated respect and 
esteem. To his 'brethren in the ministry he was a generous friend, 
a wise counsellor, and a most pleasant and improving associate. 
He excelled in the charms of conversation. He was esteemed 
v-ery highly in love for his public labors j for sound and fervent^dse 



164 CAS. 

votion, for judicious, impressive, pathetic, and edifying discourses. 
Between him and his people there subsisted an uncommon harmony 
and affection. During his long debility the religion, which he 
preached, was his support and solace. In the leisure, which was 
now afforded him, he took a peculiar interest in attending to the 
ecclesiastical history of his country ; and the fruits of his studies 
were conspicuous in his conversation. As his disorder increased 
upon him, he sunk into a state of insensibility, and without a strug- 
gle of nature his spirit returned to God, who gave it. 

He published two sermons on the importance of salvation ; a ser- 
mon preached at Charlestown from Matthew xii. 20 ; a sermon at 
the funeral of the reverend Dr. Webster of Salisbury, 1796; the 
right hand of fellowship at the ordination of the reverend James 
Beattic in Salisbury ; the charge at the ordination of the reverend 
Abraham Moore in Newbury ; a sermon on the last day of assem- 
bling in the old meeting house in Newburyport, September 27, 
1801.-— ylndrerjs\funeral sermon ; Pariofilisf, Dec. 1808. 

CASWELL (Richard), governor of North Carolina, received 
an education suitable for the bar, and was uniformy distinguished 
as a friend to the rights of mankind. He possessed a sensibility, 
which impelled him to relieve the distress, which he witnessed. 
Whenever oppressed indigence called for his professional assist- 
ance, he afforded it without the hope of any other reward, than the 
consciousness of having exerted himself to promote the happiness 
of a fellow man. 

Warmly attached to the liberties of his country, he -vras appointed 
a member of the first congress in 1774, and he early took arms in 
resistance to the arbitrary claims of Great Britain. He was at the 
head of a regiment in 1776, when it became necessary to oppose a 
body of loyalists composed of a number of the ignorant and disor- 
derly inhabitants of the frontiers, styling themselves regulators, and 
of emigrants from the highlands of Scotland. This party of about 
fifteen hundred men was collected in the middle of February under 
general M'Donald. He was pursued by geneial Moore, and on the 
twenty seventh he found himself under the i.ecessity of engaging 
colonel Caswell, who was intrenched with about a thousand minute 
men and militia directly in his front, at a place called Moore's creek 
bridge. This was about sixteen miles distant from Wilmington, 
where M'Donald hoped to join general Clinton. But he wna de- 
feated and taken prisoner by Caswell with the loss of seventy mei. 
in killed and wounded, and fifteen hundred excellent rillcs. This 
victory was of eminent service to the American cause in North 
Carolina. 

Mr. Caswell was president of the convention, which formed the 
constitution of North Carolina in December 1776, under which 
constitution he was governor f''om April 1777 to the year 1780, and 
from 1785 to 1787. At the time of his death he was president ©f 



CAT. 165 

the senate, and for a number of years he had held the commission 
of major general. He died at Fayetteville November 20, 1789. 

In his character the public and domestic virtues were united. 
Ever honored with some marks of the approbation of his fellow cit- 
izens, he watched with unremitted attention over the welfare of the 
community, and anxiously endeavored also to promote the felicity 
of its members in their separate interests. While the complacency 
of his disposition and his equal temper peculiarly endeared him to 
his friends, they commanded respect even from his enemies. Of 
the ancient and honorable society of freemasons in North Carolina 
he had for a number of years been grand master. — Martin's funeral 
Qration ; Gazette of the United States, i. 307, 340 ; Hardie's biog. 
diet. ; Marshall's lije of Washington, i. 380 ; Gordon, ii. 209 ; Earn.' 
aaij^ i. 254. 

CATESBY (Mark, f. r. s.), an eminent; naturalist, was bom in 
England at the close of the year 1679. Having an early and a 
strong propensity to the study of nature, he determined to gratify 
his taste by exploring a part of the new world. As some of his 
relations lived in Virginia, he was induced first to visit that prov- 
ince, where he aiTived April 23, 1712. Here he remained seven 
years, observing and admiring the various productions of the 
country, and occasionally sending dried specimens of plants to his 
correspondents in Great Britain, and pai-ticularly to Dr. William 
Sherard. His collections, however, as yet had no reference to the 
work, which he afterwards published. On his return to England in 
1719 he was encouraged by the assistance of several of the nobility, 
and of some distinguished naturalists to revisit America with the 
professed design of describing, delineating, and painting the most 
curious objects of nature. He arrived at South Carolina, which was 
selected as the place of his residence. May 23, 1722 ; and having 
first examined the lower parts of the country in occasional excur- 
sions from Charleston, he afterwards went into the interior and re- 
sided for some time at fort Moore upon Savannah river, three 
hundred miles from the sea. From this place he made several 
visits to the Indians, who lived still higher up the river in the more 
mountainous regions ; and he also extended iiis researches through 
Georgia and Floi'ida. In his travels he generally engaged one of 
the savages to be his companion, who carried for him his box, con- 
taining conveniences for painting, and the specimens of plants, 
which he collected. Having spent near three years upon the con- 
tinent, he visited the Bahama islands at the invitation of the gover- 
nor, and residing in the isle of Providence he prosecuted his plan, 
and made various collections of fishes and submarine productions. 

Returning to England in 1726, he was well received by his 
patrons ; but the great expense of ]irocuring en-gravings induced 
him to learn from Joseph Goupy tlie art of etching. He then re- 
tired to Hoxton, where he devoted his time to the completion of 



166 CHA, 

his great work, which he published in numbers of twenty plants 
each. The figures were etched by himself from his own paintings, 
and the colored copies were done tmder his own inspection. Al- 
though his attention was principally devoted to pUmts, yet most of 
his plates exhibit some subject of the animal kingdom. The first 
number appeared towards the close of the year 1730, and the first 
volume, consisting of one hundred plates, was finished in 1732 ; the 
second in 1743 ; and the appendix of twenty plates in 1748. Of 
each number a regular account, written by Dr. Cromwell Mortimer, 
secretary of the royal society, was laid before the society as it ap- 
peared, and printed in the philosophical transactions. The whole 
,work is entitled, the natural history of Carolina, Florida, and the 
Bahama islands, in French and English, containing the figures of 
birds, beasts, fishes, £cc. colored after the life, and a map of the 
countries. It contains descriptions of many curious a-n<l important 
articles of food, medicine, domestic economy, and ornamental cul- 
ture ; and was allowed to be one of the most splendid works of the 
kind, which had ever been published. The principal defect of the 
work is the want of a separate delineation of all the parts of the flow- 
er. For the Latin names Mr.Catcsby was indebted to Dr. Sherard. 
He did not live to see a second impression, for he died in London 
December 24, 1749, aged seventy years, leaving a widow and two 
children, whose dependence for support was entirely upon the prof- 
its of his work. He was esteemed l)y the most "espectable mem- 
bers of the royal society, of which he was a fellow, for his modesty, 
ingenuity, and upright behavior. His name has been perpetuated 
by Dr. Gronovius in the plant, called Catesboea. 

The second edition of Catesby's natural history was published 
in 1754, and the third in 1771, to which a Linnacan index has been 
annexed. The colorings however of this edition are wretchedly 
executed; those of the preceding arc better; but those, which p-^s- 
sed under the inspection of Catesby himself have most of life and 
beauty, though even these cannot vie with the splendid figures, 
which are now presented to the lovers of natural history. He was 
the author of a paper, printed in the forty fourth volume of the phi- 
losophical transactions, on birds of passage ; in which he proves 
the reality of their emigrating in search of proper food from a vari- 
ety of observations, which he had an ojiportunity of making during 
his voyages across the Atlantic. In 1767 there was published un- 
der his name, hortus Americanus, a collection of eit2;hty five curious 
trees and shrubs from North America, adapted to the soil of Great 
Britain, colored, fo\in.-—Prrfare to his natural history ; Rees* ci/clo- 
fixdia, Jmer. edit. ; Miller, ii. 365 ; Pultenn/s hint, and biog. sketch- 
es ofthefirogrcss of botany in England, ii. ch. 44. 

CHALKLEY (Thomas), a preacher among the quakersof Penn- 
sylvania, removed from England to that colony about the year 1701, 
and lived there upwards of forty years, excepting when the neccs* 



CHA. 167 

sary affairs of trade,or his duties as a preacher called him away. 
In 1705 he visited the Indians at Conestoga near the river Susque- 
hannah, in conipany with some of his brethren, to secure their 
friendship and impart to them religious instruction. He died at 
the island of Tortola in 1741, while on a visit there for the purpose 
of promoting what he believed to be the truth. He was a man pos- 
sessed of many virtues, and was endeared to his acquaintance by 
the gentleness of his manners. Though he had not the advantage 
of a liberal education, yet he published a number of works on relig- 
ious subjects, and a journal of his life, written in a simple and en- 
gaging style. — Proudf i. 463. 

CHALMERS (Lionfl, m. d.), a physician of South Carolina, 
eminent for medical science and for his various and extensive 
knowledge, came from Great Britain in the former part of the last 
century. 

He wrote in 1754 useful remarks on opisthotonos and tetanus, 
which were published in the first volume of the observations and in- 
quiries of the medical society of London. His most respectable 
work is an essay on fevers, published at Charleston, 1767, in which 
he gave the outlines of the spasmodic theory, which had been 
taught by Hoftman, and which was afterwards more fully illustrated 
by CuUen. Besides several smaller productions he also published 
a valuable work on the weather and diseases of South Carolina, 
London 1776. — Miller, i. 319 ; ii. 364 ; Ramsay's review of med- 
icine, 42, 44. 

CHAMPLAIN (Samuel de), the founder and governor of Que- 
bec, was of a noble family of Brouage in the province of Saintonge 
in France. He commanded a vessel, in which he made a voyage 
to the East Indies about the year 1600, and acquired a high reputa- 
tion as an able and experienced officer. After an absence of two 
years and a half he returned to France at a time, when it was resolv- 
ed to prosecute the discoveries, which had been commenced in 
Canada by Cartier. The marquis de la Roche and Chauvin, gov- 
ernors of Canad •, had endeavored to establish a colony, and the 
latter was succeeded by de Chatte, who engaged Champlain in his 
service in 1603. On the sixteenth of March in this year Cham- 
plain sailed, accompanied by Pontgrave, who had made many voy- 
ages to Tadoussac, at the entrance of the Saguenay into the St. 
Lawrence. After their arrival at this place May twenty fifth, he 
left his vessel, and in a light batteau ascended the St. Lawrence 
to the falls of St. Louis, which bounded the discoveries of Cartier 
in 1535. This was in the neighborhood of Hochelaga, but that In- 
dian settlement was not now in existence. After making many in- 
quiries of the natives and exploring much of the country along the 
St. Lawrence, he sailed for France in August. On his arrival in 
September, he found that de Chatte was dead, and his commission 
as lieutenant general of Canada given to the sieur de Monts, 



168 CHA. 

This gentleman engaged him as his pilot in another voyage to the 
new world. 

(^hamplain sailed on lus second voyage March 7, 1604, and ar- 
rived at Acadic on the sixth of May. After being employed about 
a month in the Jong boat, visiting the coast in order to find a prop- 
er situation for a settlement, he pitched upon a small island about 
twenty leagues to the westward of St. John's river and about half 
a league in circumference. To this island de Monts, after his ar- 
rival at the place, gave the name of St. Croix. It lies in the river 
of the same name, which divides the United States from the British 
province of New Brunswick. During the winter Champlain was 
occupied in exploring the country, and he went as far as cape Cod, 
where he gave the name of Malebarre to a point of land on account 
of the imminent danger of running aground near it with his bark. 
In the next year he pursued his discoveries, though he did not pass 
more than ten or twelve leagues beyond Malebarre. 

In 1607 he was sent out on another voyage, to Tadoussac, accom- 
panied by Pontgrave. In the year 1608 he laid the foundation of 
Quebec. He was a man, who did not embarrass himself with com- 
merce, and who felt ho interest in the traffic with the Indians, which 
proved so profitable to many, that were engaged in it. Being en- 
trusted with the charge of establishing a permanent colony, he ex- 
amined the most eligible places for settlement, and selected a spot 
upon the St. Lawrence, at the confluence of this river and the small 
river of St. Charles, about three hundred and twenty miles from 
the sea. The river in this place was very much contracted, and it 
was on this account, that the natives called it Quebec. Here he 
arrived on the third of July. He erected barracks, cleared the 
ground, sowed wheat and rye, and laid the foundation of the capital 
of Canada. The toil of subduing the wilderness, it seems, was not 
very acceptable to all his company, for some of them conspired to 
put their leader to death, and to embark at Tadoussac for France. 
The attempt to destroy him was to be made by poison and by a train 
of gunpowder ; but the apothecary having discovered the scheme, 
one of the conspirators was hanged, and others condemned to the 
gallies. During the winter his people were afflicted with the scur- 
vy. Champlain sought after the medicine, which had been so suc- 
cessfully used by Cartier, but the tree, which was called Anncdda, 
was not now to be found. From this circumstance it was concluded, 
that the tribe of Indians, with which Cartier was acquainted, had 
been exterminated by their enemies. 

In the spring of the year 1609, when the Hurons, Algonquins, 
and others were about to march against their common enemy, the 
Iroquois, Champlain very readily joined them, for he had a keen 
taste for adventures, and he hoped by a conquest to impress all the 
Indian tribes with the power of the French, and to secure an alli- 
ance with them. He did not foresee, that he should force the Iro- 



dHA. 169 

^Uois, who lived in what is now the state of New York, to seek the 
pi-otection of the Englisli and Dutch. He embarked on the river 
Sorel, which was then called the Iroquois, because these savages 
usually descended by this stream into Canada. At the lidls of Cham- 
bly he was sto))pcd, and was obliged to send back his boat. Only 
two Frenchmen remained v.ith him. He ascended with his allies 
in the Indian c.moes to the lake, to v/hich he gave his own name, 
which it retains at the present day. The savages, whom he ac- 
companied, hoped to surprise the Iroquois in their villages, but 
they met them unexpectedly upon the lake. After gainhig the 
land, it was agreed to defer the battle till the next day, as the night 
was now approaching. In the morning Champlain placed a party 
with his two Frenchmen in a neighboring wood, so as to come up- 
on the enemy in flank. The Iroquois, who were about two hundred 
in number, seeing but a handful of men, were sure of victory. 
But as soon as the battle began, Champlain killed two of their chiefs, 
who were conspicuous by their plumes, by the first discharge of his 
firelock. The report and execution of fire arms filled the Iroquois 
with inexpressible consternation. They were quickly put to flight, 
and the victorious allies returned to Quebec with fifty scalps. 

In September 1609 Champlain embarked with Pontgrave for 
France, leaving tiie colony under the care of a brave man, named 
Peter Chavin. But he was soon sent out again to the new world. 
He sailed from Honfleur on the eighth of April 1610 and an-ived at 
Tadoussac on the twenty sixth. He encouraged the Montagnez 
Indians, who lived at this place, to engage in a second expedition 
against the Iroquois, Accm'dingly soon after his arrival at Quebec, 
they sent to him about sixty warriors. At the head of these and 
others of the allies he proceeded up the river Sorel. The enemy 
were soon met, and after a severe engagement, in which Cham- 
plain was wounded by an arrow, were entii'ely defeated. After the 
death of Henry IV, the interest of de Monts, in whose service 
Champlain had been engaged, was entirely ruined, and the latter 
was obliged to leave a settlement, which he was commencing at 
Montreal, and to go again to France in 1611. Charles de Bourbon, 
being commissioned by the queen regent governor of New France, 
appointed Champlain his lieutenant with very extensive powers. 
He returned to Canada, was engaged again in war with the Iroquois, 
and made new discoveries. His voyages across the Atlantic were 
frequent. In 1615 his zeal for the spiritual interests of the Indians 
induced him to bring with him a number of Jesuit fathei"s, some 
of whom assisted him in his warfare. He penetrated to lake On- 
tario, and being wounded while assisting the Hurons against their 
enemies he was obliged to pass a whole winter among them. When 
he returned to Quebec in July 1616, he was received as one risen 
from the dead. In July 1629 he was obliged to capitulate to an 
English armament under sir David Kertk. He was carried to 
23 



176 GHA. 

France in an English ship ; and there he found the public sentiment 
much divided witli resi^urd to Canada ; some thinking it not worthf 
regaining, as it had cost the government vast sums without bringing' 
any returns, others deeming the fishery and fur trade great national 
objects, especially as a nursery for seamen. Champlain exerted 
himself to effect the recovery of this country, and Canada was re- 
stored by the treaty of St. Germain's in 1632, with Acadie and cape 
Bf'eton. 

In 1633 the company of New France resumed all their rights, 
and appointed Champlain the governor. In a short time he was at 
the head of a new armament, furnished with a fresh recruit of 
Jesuits, inhabitants, and all kinds of necessaries for the welfare of 
the revived colony. His attention was now engrossed by the spirit- 
ual interests of the savages, whom it was his principal object to 
bring to the knowledge of the christian religion. The number of 
ecclesiastical missionaries, exclusive of lay brothers, was now fif- 
teen, the chief whom were le Jeune, de Noue, Masse, and Brebeuf. 
A mission was estiblished among the Hurons, the colony was 
gaining an accession of numbers and strength, and an attempt was 
just commencing to establish a college in Quebec, when in De- 
cember 1635 the governor died, and was succeeded the next year 
by de Montmagny. 

Champlain merited the title of the father of New France. 
Though he was credulous, he possessed an uncommon share of 
penetration. His views were upright, and in circumstances of 
difficulty no man could make a better choice of measures. He 
prosecuted his enterprises with constancy, and no dangers could 
shake his firmness. His zeal for the interests of his country was 
ardent and disinterested, his heart was tender and compassionate 
towards the unhappy, and he was more attentive to the concerns of 
his friends, than to his ow n. He was a faithful historian, a voyager, 
who observed every thing with attention, skilful in geometry, and 
an experienced seaman. He appears to have been fond of good 
cheer, for in the early period of his residence in Canada he estab- 
lished with his associates an order " de bon temps," which con- 
tributed not a little to the gratification of the palate. By this 
order every one of the same table was in his turn to be both stew- 
ard and cater for a day. He was careful by hunting to make a 
suitable provision, and at supper, when the cook had made every 
thing ready, he marched at the head of the company with a napkin 
over his shoulder, having also the staff of office, and wearing the 
collar of his order, and was followed by his associates, each of 
whom bore a dish. At the close of the banquet, he pledged his 
successor in a bumper of wine and resigned to him the collar and 
staff. It may not be easy to justify Champlain in taking an active 
part in the w u* against the Iroquois. It is even supposed by some 
that his love of adventures led him to arouse the spirit of thr 



CHA. 171 

Murons and to excite them to war. His zeal for the propagation of 
religion among the savages was so great, that he used to say, 
>' that the salvation of one soul was of more value than the con- 
quest of an empire, and that kings ought not to think of extending 
their authority over idolatrous nations, except for the purpose of 
subjecting them to Jesus Christ." 

He published an account of his ilrst voyages in 1 6 1 3 in 4to, and 
a continuation in 1620 in 8vo. He published an edition of these 
in 1632 in one volume, entitled, les voyages de la Nouvelle France 
occidentale, ditte Canada, 4to. This work comprises a history of 
New France from the first discoveries of Verazzani to the year 
1631. There is added to it a treatise on navigation and the duty of 
a good mariner, and an abridgment of the christian doctrine in 
Huron and French.-— CAam/2/az>i'« voyages ; Charlevoix., Mat. de la 
nouvelle France^ fastes chronol. xxviii — xxx ; i. Ill, 141— «198 ; 
Belknafi's Amer. biog.i. 322—345; Universal hist, xx-sia.. 410— 
426 ; Furchas^ Jiilgrims, i. 933 ; v. 1605 — 1645 ; Harris' voyages, 
i. 811 — 815 ; .Churchill., iii. 798— 8.15 ; Holmes' annalsy i. 147 — 
150, 163, 175, 25.1, 285 ; Chalmers, i. 586. 

CHANDLER (Thomas Bradbury, d, d.), an eminent epis- 
copalian minister and writer, was a native of Woodstock in Con- 
necticut, and was graduated at Yale college in 1745. There was 
with many in the year 1748 an expectation of an episcopal estab- 
lishment in this country, when men of talents could indulge the 
.hope of becoming dignitaries in the church. The bait of prefer- 
ment was at this time offered to Dr. Stiles. Whether the 
xircumstances of the times had an insensible influence over the 
mind of Mr. Chandler or not, it was in the year 1748, that he was 
proselyted to episcopacy. He soon went to England, and took 
orders in the established church. On his return to this country, 
he became rector of St. John's church at Elizabethtown in New 
Jersey, where he long maintained a lugh character both for erudi- 
tion and talents. He was .honored with the degree of doctor of 
divinity by the university of Oxford. During the last ten years of 
his life he was aftlicted with a disorder, which madetrial.of all Ins 
patience. But he was resigned to the will of God. His hope of 
final deliverance from sin, and from the evils connected with it, 
rested upon the incarnation and sufferings of the eternal Son of 
the Father. He was even cheerful under the heavy troubles, 
which were laid upon him. His respectable and useful life termi- 
nated about the middle of July 1790, when he was sixty five years 
of age. 

Dr. Chandler was a zealous friend of the episcopal church, and 
he wrote much in favor of it. He was engaged in a controversy 
on the subject with the reverend Dr. Chauncy of Boston. He 
published an appeal to the public in behalf of the church of 
JEngland in America, 1767 ; a defence of his appeal, 1769 ; 9. 



172 CHA. 

further defence of his appeal, 1771 ; a sermon, preached before 
the corporation lor the relief of the widows and children of epis- 
copal clergymen, 1771 ; an examination of the critical commenta- 
ry on Seeker's letter to VV'alpole concerning bishops in America, 
1774. He also prepared for the press a life of the reverend Dr. 
Johnson ; but the revolution arrested its publication. It was 
printed at New York in the year 1805, fifteen years after his death. 
— Miller's retrosficct, ii. 356; h cadi's funeral sermon; General hist, 
of Connecticut, 158 ; Memoirs of Thomas Hollis, i. 435, 436. 

CHANLER (Isaac), a baptist minister, was born in Bristol, 
England, in 1701, and came to South Carolina in 1733. He set- 
tled as pastor of a baptist church on Ashley river in 1736, where 
he continued till his death in 1749. He was succeeded by the 
reverend Oliver Hart, who remained till 1780, when he removed 
to New Jersey. Mr. Chanlcr published a sermon on establish- 
ment in grace, preached at Charleston in 1740 by the desire of 
Mr. Whitefield at the commencement of a course of lectui'es by 
ministers of different denominations. Besides several smaller 
works, he published also the doctrines of glorious grace imfolded, 
and practically improved, 4to, 1744. — Miller, ii. 365 ; Backus* 
abridgmcjit, 248. 

CHARDON (Peter), a Jesuit missionary, was employed for 
many years among the Indians upon lake Michigan. He began his 
labors as early as 1697, and continued them for twenty five or thirty 
years. He presided over the mission at the village of Pouteautamis 
upon the river St. Joseph, and he labored also among the SaUis at 
the southern extremity of green Bay, or baye des Puans, as it was 
called by the French. He was acquainted with almost all the lan- 
guages of the Indians, who inhabited the lakes. — Charlevoix, hist, 
dc la nouv. France, iii. 292, 295 ; Lettres edif. et cnrietiscs, xi. 372 
— 378. 

' CHARLEVOIX (Peter Francis Xavier de), a historical 
writer, who lived a number of yeai*s in Canada, was born at St. Quin- 
tin in France in 1684, and entering intothesociety of Jesuits taught 
the languages and philosophy v.ith great reputation. Before the 
year 1720 he had resided some time in Quebec, and was connected, 
it is believed, with the college in that place. By order of the king 
he made a voyage to Canada in 1 720, where he arrived in Septem- 
ber. From Quebec he passed u^) the St. Lawrence, and through 
the lakes to Michillimakinac ; thence down lake Michigan, and the 
Illinois and Mississippi rivers to New Orleans, from which place 
he returned, touching at St. Domingo, to France in 1722. During 
this period he collected facts for his history of Canada, and kept a 
journal, which he afterwards published, annexed to his hiiloi7. Af- 
ter his arrival in his native country, he had a principal concern for 
twenty four years in the jomn.d des Trcvoux. He died in 1761, 
aged seventy eight years. He published in French the history of 



CHA. 173 

Christianity in Japan,3 vol. 1715, 8vo; the life of Mary, 1724,12mo; 
the history of St. Domingo, 2 vol. 1731, 4to ; the history and gen- 
eral description of Japan, 2 vol. 1736, 4to, and 9 vol, 12 mo, compris- 
ing all that is valuable in Koempfei-'s history of that country ; a gen- 
eral history of New France, 3 vol. 1744, 4to, and 6 vol. 12 mo ; and 
a history of Paraguay, 3 vol. 1756, 4lo. His works were well re- 
ceived, but the history of New France, or Canada, is considered as 
peculiarly valuable, as he himself visited thff country, which he de- 
scribed, and paid particular attention to the manners and customs 
of the Indians. He has added something upon botany and other 
parts of natural history ; but on these subjects a perfect confidence 
is not placed in his accuracy. His style is deficient in precision. 
He was diffuse both in conversation and writing.— ^Nouveau diet, 
historique, edit. 1804 ; Aikiii's and Alcholson's gen. biog. 

CHAUMONOT (Joseph), a Jesuit missionary among the In- 
dians of North America, was an Italian. He labored with indefati- 
gable zeal for more than half a century among the natives of Cana- 
da. He was among the Hurons, who lived north of lake Erie, as 
early as 1642, and in the following year spent some time with a 
tribe to the south east, which v/as called the neutral nation, because 
they did not then engage in the war between the Iroquois and the 
Hurons. From the latter they derived their origin. In the yeai' 
1655, when he was the oldest missionary in New France, he visited 
the Onondagas at their request, and made a number of converts, 
some of whom were the principal men of the tribe. This mission 
however was soon abandoned, though it was afterwards resumed. A- 
bout theyear 1 670 he established the mission of Loretto three leagues 
north cast from Quebec, where he collected a number of Indians 
of the Huron tribe. The Hurons resided originally northward of 
lake Erie, and it was in consequence of the wars, in which they 
wcre engaged with other tribes, that they were induced to go down 
the St. Lawrence. The name of Hurons was given them on ac- 
count of the manner, in which they dressed their hair. As they 
cut it for the most part very short, and turned it up in a fantastical 
way, so as to give themselves a frightful appearance, the French 
cried out, when they first saw them, " quelles hures 1" What wild 
boars' heads 1 They were afterwards called Hurons. Champlain- 
calls them Ochasteguins ; but tlieir true name is Yendats,with the 
French pronunciation. Their descendants, the Wyandots, who 
live on the south western side of lake Erie, are now under the care 
of the reverend Joseph Badger, a missionary from New England^ 
who has been with them two or three years with the most flattering 
prospects of rescuing them from barbarism. Chaumonot compos- 
ed a grammar of the Huron language. — Charlevoix., hist. nouv. 
France, i. 183, 243,320—329, 334,^^4.28 ; Univ. Mst, xxxix. 457 ; 
Lrftres edlf. ct curiencc;, xxiii. 213 — 215. 



174 CHA, 

CHAUNCY (Charles), the second president of Harvard col» 
lege, was born in Hertfordshire, England, in 1589. He was at 
Westminster school, which adjoined to the parliament house, at 
the very time, when the gun powder plot was to have taken effect, 
and must have perished, if the scheme had been executed. After 
leaving Westminster, he was admitted a student of Trinity college, 
Cambridge, and in proper time was honored with the degree of 
bachelor of divinity. ^He was soon chosen professor of Hebrew ; 
but the vice chancellor. Dr. Williams, wishing to bestow this office 
upon a kinsman, Mr. Chauncy was chosen professor of Greek. He 
went from the university an eminent preacher of the gospel. He 
was first settled in the ministry at Marstow, but afterwards be- 
came vicar of Ware in the beginning of 1627, in which place his 
success in the conversion and edification of souls was remarkably 
great. He had at this time serious objections to the discipline and 
to some of the articles of the established church, and in about two 
years he began to suffer for his nonconformity to the inventions of 
man in the worship of God. In 1 629 he was charged with asserting 
in a sermon, that idolatry was admitted into the church, that the 
preaching of the gospel would be suppressed, and that much athe- 
ism, popery, arminianism, and heresy had crept into the church ; 
and after being questioned in the high commission court his cause 
was referred to Dr. William Laud, the bishop of London, his ordi- 
Jiary, who required him to make a submission in Latin. He was 
again brought before the same court in 1635, when Laud was arch- 
bishop of Canterbury. The crime, of which he was now accused$ 
was opposing the making of a rail round the communion table of his 
'Church as an innovation and a snare to men's consciences. He was 
•pronounced guilty of contempt of ecclesiastical government and of 
■raising a seism, and was suspended from his ministry till he should 
onake in open court a recantation, acknowledging his great offence, 
-and protesting that he was persuaded in his conscience, that kneel- 
ing at the sacrament was lawful and commendable, and that the rail 
set up in the chancel, with the bench for kneeling, was a decent 
and convenient ornament, and promising never to oppose eithej* 
that, or any other laudable rite or ceremony prescribed in tlie 
church of England. He was sentenced to pay the costs of suit, 
■which were great, and to imprisonment till he complied with the 
order of court. His fortitude failed him in the midst of his suffer- 
ings, and contrary to his conscience he made the recantation on the 
eleventh of February. For his weakness and folly he ever reproach- 
ed himself. He soon repented of his submission, and before he 
came to New England made a solemn retractation, which was after- 
wards printed in London. In the preface of his last will he partic- 
ularly laments, as " still fresh before him, his many sinful compli- 
ances with and conformitv unto vile human inventions, will worship, 
«uper?«n^on, and patchcries, stitched into the service of the Lordb 



CHA. 175 

tirhich the fenglish mass book, the book of comnaon prayer, and the 
ordination of priests, &c. are fully fraught withal." He proceeds 
to charge his posterity with the greatest warmth of zeal and solem- 
nity of language, as they would answer for their conduct at the tri- 
bunal of Jesus Christ, " not to conform, as he had done, to rites and 
ceremonies in religious worship of man's devising and not of God's 
appointment." 

Being silenced for refusing to read the book of sports, he deter- 
mined to seek the peaceable enjoyment of the rights of conscience 
in New England. He accordingly came to this country, and arriv- 
ed at Plymouth a few days before the great earthquake, which was 
felt June 1, 1638.. He continued in this town about three years, 
assisting the reverend Mr. R«yner in his public labors ; but being 
invited to take the pastoral charge of the church at Scituate, he was 
again ordained, and continued in that place about twelve years, faith- 
fully performing the duties of the sacred office. The ecclesiastic- 
al state of England had now assumed a new appearance, and as his 
maintenance at Scituate was so disproportionate to the necessities 
of his family, that he was sometimes unable to procure bread, he 
resolved to accept the invitation, which he received from his people 
in Ware to return to them. He accordingly went to Boston to em- 
bark for Great Britain ; but the presidentship of Harvard college 
being at this time vacant by the resignation of IVTr. Dunster, he was 
requested Novembers, 1654, to accept that office. As he was of 
opinion, that the baptism of infants and adults should be by immer- 
sion, and that the Lord's supper should be celebrated in the evening, 
the overseers of the college desired him to forbear disseminating 
his peculiar sentiments. He had no difficulty in yielding to their 
wishes. He was inducted into the office of president November 
27, 1654, and continued in this station till his death February 19, 
1672, in the eighty second year of his age. He left behind him six 
sons, all of whom were graduated at Harvard college. 

President Chauncy was a distinguished scholar, being intimately 
acquainted with the Hebrew, Greek, and Latin langauges. He en- 
joyed an opportunity of perfecting his knowledge of the former by 
living one year in the same house with a Jew. He was well versed 
also in the sciences, especially in theology, which was his favorite 
study. To his other acquisitions he added some skill in physic, and 
thus he was enabled to prescribe for bodily diseases, as well as to 
cure those of the mind. He presided over the college with dignity 
and reputation, and some of the most eminent men in the country, 
such as Increase Mather, Willard, Stoddard, and judge Sewall, 
were educated under his care. To those students, who were des- 
tined for the ministry, he addressed these words ; " when you are 
yourselves interested in the Lord Jesus Christ and his righteous-' 
ness, you will be fit to teach others." When he attended prayei-s 
in the college hall in the morning, he usually expoiuided a chapter 



176 CHA. 

of the old testament, which was first read from the Hebrew by one 
of his pupils, and in the evening a chapter of the new testament, 
read from the Greek. On the mornings of the Lord's day, instead of 
an exposition, he preached a sermon of about three quarters of an 
hour in length. Once a fortnight in the forenoon his labors were 
enjoyed by the congregation of Cambridge. As a preacher he 
was animated and learned, yet remarl;ably plain, being mindful of 
the importance of accommodating himself to the understandings 
of all his hearers. In a letter to a brother in the ministry he 
advised him not to use any dark, Latin words, or any deriv- 
ed from Latin, lest he should not be understood, and enjoined 
it upon him to be much in prayer to God, as the surest way 
to success in his labors. The subjects, which he thought import- 
ant to be preached, are the misery of the natural state of man, 
the necessity of union with Christ, and the fruits of justifying faith 
in love and good works. He believed, that Jesus Christ, by suffer- 
ing the full punishment due to the sins of the elect, made satisfac- 
tion to divine justice, and that faith justifies by receiving the right- 
eousness of the Savior, which is imputed to believers. He was 
exceedingly solicitous to exclude good works from any share in the 
antecedent condition of justification, yet few insisted more upon their 
necessity in all the justified. 

He was an indefatigable student, making it his constant practice 
to rise at four o'clock in the morning ; but his studies did not inter- 
rupt his intercourse with heaven, for he usually devoted several 
hours in the course of the day to secret prayer. Immediately after 
he rose from bed, at eleven o'clock, at four in the afternoon, and at 
nine he retired from the world to commune -with the Father of mer- ' 
cies. He kept a diary, in which, under the heads of sins and mer- 
cies, he recorded his imperfections, and the blessings, which were 
imparted to him. His temper was passionate, but he endeavored 
to subdue it, and such was his conscientiousness and self inspection, 
that when his better resolutions were overcome by the warmth of 
his feelings, he would immediately retire to humble himself before 
God and to seek his mercy. He kept many days of fasting and 
prayer, sometimes alone, and sometimes with his family and a few 
of his pious neighbors. Such was his attention to those, whose 
religious instruction was more peculiarly his duty, that every 
morning and evening, after he had expounded a chapter of the bible 
in his family, he would endeavor by suitable questions to impress 
the truths presented upon the minds of his children and servants. 

This venerable man, when he had travelled beyond the bounda- 
ries of fourscore, was yet able to preach and to superintend the 
concerns of the college. His friends at this period observed to 
him, as he was going to preach on a winter's dav, that he" would 
certainly die in tlie pulpit ; but he pressed more vigorously through 
the snow drift, replying, " how glad should I be, if this should pnovr 



CHA. 17i 

Unie ?'* He was induced on account of the infirmities of age to ad- 
dress to his friends a farewell oration on the day of commencement 
in 1 67 1 , after which he sent for his children and blessed them. He 
how waited for his departure When he was stretched on the bed 
of death, and the flame of life was almost extinct, he was desired by 
the reverend Mr. Oakes to give a sign of his hope and assurance 
of future glory- The speechless old man accordingly lifted up his 
hands towards heaven, and his spirit soon rushed forth, and entered 
eternity. 

He published a sermon on Amos ii. 11, preached in the college 
hall the day after the commencement in 1655, entitled, God's mer- 
cy shewed his people in giving them a faithful ministry, and schools 
of learning tor the continuance thereof. In this sermon he speaks of 
the wearing of long hair, particularly by students and ministers, with 
the utmost detestation, and represents it as a heathenish practice, 
and as one of the crying sins of the land. In this sentiment he 
was supported by some of the most distinguished men of that day. 
He takes occasion at the same time to reprehend the criminal neg- 
lect of the people With regard to the suitable maintenance of min- 
isters. He published also the election sermon, 1656 ; and a vol- 
ume of twenty six sermons on justification, 1659, 4to. President 
Chauncy's manuscripts fell into the hands of the widow of his son, 
the reverend Mr. Chauncy of Hatfield, and she afterwards marry- 
ing a Northampton deacon, who subsisted principally by making 
and selling pies, these learned and pious writings Avere not suffered 
to decay. Being put to the bottom of the pies, they rendered good 
service by shielding them from the scorching of the oven ! — Mat/i- 
er's magnalia, iii. 133 — 141 ; iv. 128 ; Coll. hist.soc. iv. 111; x. 31, 
Jfl — 180; Rushivorth's hist, collections, u. 34, 316; JVeafs J\''ew 
■England, i. 38f — 390; Hutchinson, i. 259 ; Holmes' annals, i. 415. 

CHAUNCY (Charles, d. d.), minister in Boston, was born in 
.that town January 1, 1705, and Avas a descendant of president 
-Chauncy, as are all of this name in America. Entering Harvard 
college at twelve years of age, he received his first degree in 1721. 
■He was ordained pastor of the first church in Boston, as colleague 
with the reverend Mr. Foxcroft, October 25, 1727. Alter enjoy- 
ing for a few years the assistance of the reverend Dr. Clarke, he 
died February 10, 1787, in the eighty third year of his age, and the 
sixtieth of his ministry. 

Dr. Chauncy was eminent for his learning, and for the spirit of 
independence, which marked his inquiries. Being placed by di- 
vine providence in a situation, which afforded him much leisure, 
he was diligent in his search after truth. He formed the resolution 
to see for himself, to understand, if possible, all the articles of his 
creed, and not to teach for the doctrines of Christ the command- 
ments of men. The results of his inquiries in some instances did 
not correspond with the opinions, embraced generally by his breth- 
23 



m CHA. 

Pen in the ministry ; but he adopted them after patient investiga*- 
tion, and he believed them himself to be founded on the scriptures. 
Soon after Mr. Wlutefield came to this country, when his preach- 
ing was Attended with very remarkable effects, and many disorders, 
acco.iipanied the reformation produced, Dr. Chauncy stood forth in- 
opposition to him. He could not easily admit, that anyjgood could 
be done by an itinerant preacher, " who played the bishop in anoth- 
er nian'» parish," as he rendered I. Peter, iv. 15, " and who went 
out of his proper iine of things." Believing, that the welfare of 
the churches was endangered, he travelled several hundred miles 
to collect facts, and published in 1743 his seasonable thoughts oiv 
the state of religion in New England, m wliich he gives a faithful 
picture of the uncharitableness, enthusiasm, and confusion, which 
prevailed in different parts of the country. He attacked what was 
wortliy of reprehension, but hue most men of strong passions, by 
dwelling constantly upon the picture, which he was drawing, he al- 
most forgot, that different and more pleasant objects might be pre- 
sented to the eye. Such men as Colman, Sewall, Prince, Cooper,^ 
Foxcroft, and Eliot agreed with him in reprehending and opposing 
the extravagancies, which had been witnessed ; but they had differ- 
ent views of the general religious state of the country, and thought 
It their duty to express " their inll persuasion, that there had been a 
happy and remarkable revival of religion in many parts of the land 
through an uncommon divine influence." Dr. Chauncy in his 
work endeavors to distinguish the nature of true religion. He rep- 
resents the new creation as wrought in the minds of sinners by the 
Spirit of God in different ways, sometimes as accompanied by ter- 
ror, and sometimes as exciting little agitation ; but as always evinc- 
ing itself by the fruits of holiness. As a remedy for the evils, 
which lie recorded, he enforces it upon his brethren as their most 
sacred duty to discourage and oppose all itinerant preaching in plac- 
es, where ministers were settled. He recommends also a more 
strict examhiation of candidates for the ministry, and the revival of 
discipline in the churches. In regard to Mr. Whitefield, than 
whom there was never a more disinterested man, it was suggested^ 
that vanity might have been the cause of his incessant travels in 
Great Britain and America, and that in soliciting subscriptions he 
Jnight have had " a fellow feeling with the orphans in Georgia." 

Dr. Chauncy was ardently attached to the civil and religious lib- 
erties of his country. After the death of Dr. Mayhew he followed 
in his steos in withstanding the 3chemes of episcopalians. He pub- 
lished in 17G7 remarks upon a sermon of the bishop of Landaff, in 
which paxnphlet he expresses his fears, that the appointment of 
bishops for America, as was projected, would be followed by at- 
tempts to promote episcopacy by force. He then adds, " it may be 
relied on, our people would not be easy, if restrained in the exer- 
i»se of that liberty, wherewith Christ hath made them free ; yea. 



€HA. X79 

they would hazard every thing dear to them, their estates, their very 
lives, rather than suffer their necks to be put under that yoke of 
bondage, .which .was so sadly galling to their lathers, and occasioned 
their retreat into this distant land, that they might enjoy the free^ 
<lomofmenand christians." A controversy on the subject with 
the reverend Dr. Chandler succeeded, and in his reply to him he ob- 
serves, " it is with me past all doubt, that tlie religion of Jesus will 
never be restored to its primitive purity, simplicity, and glory, until 
religious establishments are so brought down as to be no more." In 
1771 he published his complete view of episcopacy from the fath- 
ers, a work, which does him great honor, and which in the opinion 
of many has settled the controversy. 

He was an honest patriot, and at the commencement of the revo- 
lution he entered warmly into those measures, which were consid» 
ered as necessary to vindicate our rights, and which were founded in 
justice and dictated by wisdom. During the war he was a most in- 
curable whig. So firmly was he convinced of the justice of our 
.cause, that he used to say, he had no doubt, if human exertions were 
ineflFectual, that a host of angels would be sent to assist us. When 
a smile was excited, and some doubts were expressed respecting 
the possibility of such an ally, he persisted in his assertion, adding, 
that he knew it. His mind was indeed of a peculiar stamp. In 
conversation he was apt to be vehement and extravagant ; a little 
opposition would easily kindle a flame ; but in his writings he ap- 
. pears more calm and collected. 

He was respected for the excellence of his character, being hon- 
est and sincere in his intercourse with his fellow men, kind, and 
xharitable, and pious. Dissimulation, which was of all things most 
foreign to his nature, was the object of his severest invective. His 
language was remarkably plain and pointed, when he spoke against 
.fraud either in public bodies, or individuals. Paper money, tender 
.acts, andevery species of knavery met his severest reprehension 
."^both in his public discourses and in private conversation. Nocom- 
-pany could restrain him from the honest expression of his senti- 
.Tnents. In the latter part of his life he appeared to those, who were 
'Jiear him, to be almost wholly engaged in devotional excercises. 

Dr. Chauncy's publications are numerous. The following is a 
Jist of them. Funeral sermons on Mrs. Sarah Byfield, Mrs. Eliza- 
beth Price, the honorable Nathaniel Byfield, deacon Jonathan Will- 
iams, Mrs. Lucy Waldo, Mr. Cornelius Thayer, Mrs. Anna Fox- 
• croft, Mr. Edward Gray, the reverend Dr. Mayhew, the reverend 
Mr. Foxcroft, and the reverend Dr. Sewall ; sermons at the ordi» 
-nation of the reverend Messrs. Thomas Frink, Joseph Bowmaij, 
Penuel Bowen,and Simeon Howard ; a sermon before the artillery 
.company ; on religious compulsion ; on the new creature ; on an 
imbridled tongue ; on the gifts of the Spirit to ministers, 1742 ; on 
.the outpouring of the Holy Ghost.; against enthusiasm, 17,42^? 



J80 CHE. 

seasonable thourjhts on the state of religion in New £iiglancl, »vo, 
1743; a convention sermon, 1744; ti thanksgiving sermon on tho 
reduction of cape Breton, 1745 ; a letter to the reverend George 
Whiteficld ; a second letter to the same ; a sermon on the rebell- 
ion in favor of the pretender, 1746 ; election sermon^ 1747 ; a ser- 
mon for encouraging industry ; on murder, 1754 ; on the earth- 
quake, 1755 ; anaccountof the Ohio defeat, 1755 ; aparticular narra- 
tive of the defeat ofthe French army at lake George, 1755 ; asermon 
on the earthquakes in Spain, See. 1756 ; the opinion of one, who has 
perused Clark's summer morning's conversation ; a Oudleian 
lecture on the validity of presbyterian ordination, 1762 ; twelve 
sermons on seasonable and important subjects, particularly referring 
to the Sandemanian doctrines, 8vo, 1765; a thanksgiving sermon 
on the repeal ot the stump act, 1766 ; on trust in God the duty of a 
people, 8cc. ; on all things in common ; on the accursed thing ; 
an account of the French prophets in a letter to a friend; remarks 
on the bishop of Landaff's sermon, 1767; answer lo Dr. Chand- 
ler's appeal, 1768 ; reply to Dr. Chandler's appeal defended, 1770 ; 
a complete view of episcopacy from the fathers, 8vo, 1771 ; live 
sermons on the Lord's supper, 1772 ; a just representation of the 
sufterings and hardships ofthe town of Boston, 1774 ; the mystery 
hid from ages, or the salvation of all men, Svo, 1784 ; this has been 
answered by the reverend Dr. Edwards ; the benevolence of the 
Deity considered, Svo, 1785 ; five dissertations on the fall and its 
consequences, 8vo, 1785 ; a sermon on the return of his society to 
their house of worship, after it had undergone repairs. — Clarke's 
funeral sermon ; Hardic's biog. diet, ; Miller's retros/icct^ ii. 368. 

CHECKLEY (Samuel), minister in Boston, was graduated at 
Harvard college in 1715. He was ordained the first minister of 
the new south church in summer street November 22, 1719, and 
died December 1, 1769, in the seventy fourth year of his age, and 
the fifty first of his ministry. His colleague, the reverend Mr^ 
Bowen, who was settled in 1766, survived him ; but was dismissed 
in 1772. In the following year, the reverend Mr. Howe was or- 
dained his successor. Mr. Checkley's son, the reverend Samuel 
Checkley, junior, was minister of the old north church from 1747 
to 1768. 

Mr. Checklev in his preaching was plain and evangelical. The 
great subject of his discourses was Jesus Christ, as a divine person, 
find as the end ofthe law for righteousness to all, that believe. He 
frequently dwelt upon the fall of man, the necessity ofthe influenc- 
es ofthe Spirit of God, the freeness and richness of divine grace, 
the necessity of regeneration, justification by faith, and faith as the 
gift of God. He was careful also to insist upon the importance of 
the christian virtues. These he exhibited in his o'wu life. Dis, 
countenancing all parade in religion, it gave him pleasure to en- 
tourage the humble and diffident. As he did not considejf it of lit- 



CHE. 181 

tic importance, what principles were embraced, he was tenacious of 
his sentiments. During his last sickness he enjoyed the supports 
of religion, and anticipated the blessedness of dwelling with his 
Savior, and with his pious friends, who had been called before him 
into eternity. Renouncing his own righteousness, he trusted oMy 
in the merits of Christ. 

He published a sermon on the death of king George I, 1727 ; 
on the death of the reverend William Waldron, 1727 ; on the death 
of Mrs. Lydia Hutchinson, 1748 ; the election sermon, 1755. — 
Bowen's funeral sermon ; Collect, hist. soc. iii. 261. 

CHEEVER (EzEKiEL),an eminent instructer, was born in Lon- 
don January 25, 1615, and came to this country in June 1637 for 
the sake of the peaceable enjoyment of christian worship in its pu- 
rity. He was first employed as a schoolmaster at New Haven for 
twelve years ; then at Ipswich, Massachusetts, eleven years ; and 
afterwards at Charlestown nine years. He removed to Boston Jan- 
uary 6, 1671, where he continued his labors during the remainder of 
his life. He died August 21, 1708, in the ninety fourth year of his 
age. Most of the principal gentlemen in Boston at that time had 
been his pupils, and took pleasure in acknowledgmg their obliga- 
tions and honoring their old master. He was not only an excellent 
teacher, but a pious christian. He constantly prayed with his pu- 
pils every day, and catechised them every week. He also took fre- 
quent occasions to address them upon religious subjects. Be- 
ing well acquainted with divinity, he was an able defender of the 
faith and order of the gospel. In his old age his intellectual pow- 
ers Were very little impaired. The following extracts from an el- 
egy upon him by Dr. Cotton Mather, one of his pupils, will show 
the esteem, in which he was held, and may serve also as a specimet^ 
pf the poetry of the age, 

" A mighty tribe of well instructed youth 

Tell what they owe to him, and tell with truth. 

All the eight parts of speech, he taught to them, x 

They now employ to trumpet his esteem. — 

Magister pleas'd them well because 'twas he ; 

They say, that bonus did with it agree. 

While they said amo, they the hint improve 

Him for to make the object of their love. 

No concord so inviolate they knew, 

As to pay honors to their master due. 

With interjections they break off at last, 

But, ah is all they use, wo, and alas !" 
He published an essay on the millennium, and a Latin accidence, 
which has passed through twenty editions, and has not lost its rep-? 
vitation to the present day . — Mather's fun. serm. and ele^j ; Hutchf 
'^■iov, ii. 175 -, Collect, hist. soc. viii. 66. 

\ 



IS3 CHE. 

CHEEVER (Samuel), the first minister of Marblehead, was the 
son of the preceding, and was graduated at Harvard college in 1659, 
In November 1668 he first visited the town, in which he was after- 
wards settled, when the people were few. He continued preaching 
with them sixteen years before his ordination, which took place 
August 13, 1681. The reverend Messrs. Higginson, Huboard, 
and Hale assisted in ordaining him. He received Mr. Barnard as 
his colleague in 1716. His death took place in 1724, when he was 
eighty five years of age. He possessed good abilities, and he was a 
constant and zealous preacher. He was a man of peace and of a 
catholic mind, and would never join himself to any parly in the 
town, except to those, who were engaged in the .cause of virtue and 
religion. He was blessed with such a remarkable constitution and 
health, that he never was sick. For fifty years he was not taken off 
from his labors one sabbath. When he died ihe lamp of life fairly 
burned out. He felt no pain in his expiring moments. He pub- 
lished the election sermon, 1712 Coll. hist . soc . \m. 65 , 66 ; \. 168 ; 

Barnard's discourse at ordination of Whitioell ; W/iitwell's Juneral 
sermon on Barnard, 

CHITTENDEN (Thomas), first governor of Vermont, was 
born at East Guilford, Connecticut, in 1730. His mother was sis- 
ter of the reverend Dr. Johnson. He received a common school 
education, which at that period contributed but little to the improve- 
ment of the mind. Agreeably to the custom of New England he 
married early in life, when in his twentieth year, and soon removed 
to Salisbury in the county of Litchfield. Here by a regular ad- 
vance he passed through the several grades in the militia to the 
command of a regiment. He many years represented the town, in 
which he lived, in the general assembly, and thus acquired that 
knowledge of public business, which afterward rendered him emi- 
inently useful in Vermont. The office of a justice of peace for the 
county of Litchfield, which he also sustained, made him acquainted 
with the laws of the state and the manner of carrying them into 
effect. 

Though destitute of learning, his good sense, affability, kindness, 
■and integrity gained him the confidence of his fellow citizens, 
and the highest honors, which a retired town could bestow, were 
given him. His attention was principally directed to agriculture, 
and he labored personally in the £eld. With a numerous and grow- 
ing family, a mind formed for adventures, and a firmness, which 
nothing could subdue, he determined to lay a foundation for the 
future prosperity of his children by emigrating to the New Hamp- 
shire grants, as Vermont was then called. He accordingly in 1774 
removed to Williston on Onion river. An almost trackless wilder- 
ness now separi.tcd him from his former residence. Here he set- 
tled on fine lantls, which opened a wide field for industry, and en- 
couraged many new settlers. In the year 1776 the troubles, occar 



CHI. 183 

3ioned by the war, rendering it necessary for him to remove, h^ 
purchased an estate in Arlington, and continued in that town until 
1787, wiien he returned to Williston. 

In the controversy with New York, he was a faithful adviser and 
a strong supporter of the feeble settlers. During the war of the 
American revolution, while Warner, Allen, and many others were 
in the field, he was assiduously engaged in the council at home, 
where he rendered essential sei'Vice to his coimtry. He was a mem- 
ber of the convention, which on the sixteenth of January 1777 de- 
clared Vermont an independent state, and was appointed one of the 
committe to communicate to congress the proceedings of the inhab- 
itants, and to solicit for their district an admission into the union of 
the American states. When the powers of government were as- 
sumed by this state, and a constitution was established in 1778, the 
eyes of the freemen were immediately fixed on Mr Chittenden as 
their first magistrate. He was accordingly elected to that arduous 
and difficult office, and continued in it, one year only excepted, until 
his death. From the year 1780 till the conclusion of the war, dur- 
ing a period, in which the situation of Vermont was peculiarly per- 
plexing, he displayed a consummate policy. The state was not 
acknowledged by the congress, and they were contending on the- 
one hand for independence, and on the other hand they were threat- 
ened by the British forces from Canada. A little management was 
necessary to promote the interests of this district. A correspond- 
ence was opened with the enemy, who were flattered for several 
years with the belief, that the people of Vermont were about to sub- 
ject themselves to the king ol England ; and thus a meditated in- 
vasion of the territory was averted, and the prisoners were restored. 
At the same time, the possibility that Vermont would desert the 
cause of America was held up to congress, and by this means prob- 
ably the settlers were not required to submit to the claims of New 
York. Such was the politic course, which goveraor Chittenden 
thought it necessary to pursue. 

He enjoyed very good health until about a year before his death. 
In October 1796 he took an affecting leave of his compatriots in the 
general assembly, imploring the benediction of heaven on them and 
their constituents. He died August 24, 1797, aged sixty seven 
years. 

Governor Chittenden, though an illiterate man, possessed great 
talents. His discernment was keen, and no person knew better 
how to effect great designs, than himself. Though his open frank- 
ness was sometimes abused, yet when secresy was required in or- 
der to accomplish his purposes, no misplaced confidence made them 
liable to be defeated. His negotiations during the war were master 
'itrokes of policy. He possessed a peculiar talent in reconciling the 
jarring interests among the people. The important services, which 
he rendered to his country, and especially to Vermont, make his 



184 CHU. 

name vrorthy of honorable remembrance. He lived to aee astw*- 
isliing changes in the district, which was almost a wilderness, when 
he first removed to it. Instead of his little band of associates he 
could enumerate a hundred thousand persons, whose interests were 
entrusted to his care. He saw them rising superior to oppression, 
braving the horrors of a foreign war, and finally obtaining a recog- 
nition of their independence, and an admission into the United 
States of America. 

Governor Chittenden was conspicuous for his private virtues. In 
times of scarcity and distress, which are not unfrequent in new set- 
tlements, he displayed a noble liberality of spirit. His granary was 
open to all the needy. He was a professor of religion, a worshipper 
of God, believing in the Son to the glory of the Father. A num- 
ber of his letters to congress and to general Washington were pub- 
lished.— Mora/A/y anthology, i. 490 — 492 ; Williams' Vermont, 233 
—.277 ; Graham's descrifitive sketch of Vermont, 135 — 137. 

CHURCH (Benjamin), distinguished by his exploits in the In- 
dian wars of New England, was born at Duxbury, Massachusetts, 
in 1639. He was the first Englishman, who commenced the settle- 
Bient at Sekonit, since called Little Compton. His life, which was fre- 
quently exposed to the greatest dangers, was by divine providence 
remarkably preserved. In the year 1676, when in pursuit of 
•king Philip, he was engaged with the Indians in a swamp. With 
•two men by his side, who were his guard, he met three of the ene- 
my. Each of his men took a prisoner, but the other Indian, who 
•was a stout fellow with his two locks tied up with red and a great 
Tattle snake's skin hanging from his hair behind, ran into the swamp. 
Church pursued, and as he approached him presented his gun, but 
it missed fire. The Indian being equally unsuccessful in his at- 
tempt to discharge his gun turned himself to continue liis flight ; 
but his foot was caught in a small grape vine and he fell on his face. 
Church instantly struck him with the muzzle of his gun and dis- 
patched him. Looking about he saw another Indian rushing to- 
wards him with inexpressible fury ; but the fire of his guards pre- 
served him from the danger. After the skirmish his party .found 
they had killed and taken one hundred and seventy three men. At 
ni^htthey drove their prisoners into Bridge water pound, where, hav- 
hvg a plenty of provisions, they passed a merry night. Colonel Church 
comnmnded the party, which killed Philip in August 1676. When 
it was Tcnown, that the savage monarch was shot, the whole compa- 
ny gave three loud huzzas. Church ordered him to be beheaded 
and quartered, and gave one of his hands to the friendly Indian, who 
shot him. The government at Plymouth paid thirty shillings a 
head for the enernies killed or taken and Philip's head went at the 
same price. 

In 1704 colonel Church went on an expedition against the east- 
torn shore of New England a«d did much damage to the French 



CLA. 185 

^d Indians. It was tlie burning of Deerfield, which awakened the 
spirit of this veteran warrior ; and he took his horse and rode seventy 
miles to wait on governor Dudley and offer his service in behalf of 
his country. He died January 1 7, 17 18, in the seventy eighth year of 
hisage. He was a man of integrity and piety. At the gathering of 
the church at Bristol by the reverend Mr. Lee he was a member of 
it, and his life was exemplary. The rupture of a blood vessel by a 
fall from his horse was the cause of his death. He was buried 
with military honors. He published a narrative of Philip's war, 
i7 1 6, -'-Church*s narrative i Account of Church annexed to it; 
Holmeft' annals, ii. 97. 

CLAP (Roger), one of the first settlers of Dorchester, Massa- 
chusetts, was born in England April 6, 1609, and came to tiiib coun- 
try with the reverend Mr. Warham and Mr. Maverick in 1630. 
At this time there were only a few settlers at Plymouth, Salem, and 
Charlestown. The place, where Mr. Clap with others of the com- 
pany began a plantation, was Dorchester. The hardships endured 
at first were very considerable, as there was a great want of the nec- 
essaries of life ; the Indians however, who brought baskets of cont 
for traffic, afforded great assistance. The people were glad to pro- 
cure clams, and muscles, and fish, and often they had nothing but 
samp, or hominy. Mr. Clap sustained several civil and military 
offices. He was a representative of the town, and in August 1665 
he was appointed by the general court the captain of castle Will- 
iam. This trust he discharged with great fidelity, and continued 
in command till 1686, when he resigned. During his residence at 
the castle he officiated as chaplain, always calling in the soldiers to 
family prayer. He constantly attended the lectures in Boston. 
While he was remarkably pious, very meek and humble, and of a 
quiet and peaceable spirit, there was a dignity in his deportment, 
which commanded respect. He possessed also a pleasant and 
cheerful disposition. In 1686 he removed from the castle into 
Boston, where he died February 2, 169 1, in the eighty second year 
of his age. Among his sons are the names of Preserved, Hoper 
still, and Desire, and one of his daughters was named Wait. Mr. 
Preserved Clap was one of the early settlers of Northampton, and 
died September 20, 1720, aged about seventy seven years. 

Captain Clap wrote memoirs of himself, in which he gives a 
sketch of the early history of New England, and leaves some excel- 
lent advice to his descendants. These memoirs were published in 
a small pamphlet by the reverend Mr. Prince in 1731, and they 
were republished in 1807, with an appendix by Mr. James Blake, 
junior — Claji's memoirs ; Collect, hist. soc. ix. 149, 150. 

CLAP (Nathaniel), minister of Newport, Rhode Island, wa<; 

the son of Nathaniel Clap of Dorchester, Massachusetts, and v,-as 

born in January 1668. He was graduated at Harvard college in 

1690. In 169.- he began to preach at NTe'^TJort. and he rontinned 

2*; 



186 CLA. 

his labors under many discouragements till a church was (ormedjof 
which he was ordained pastor November 3,1720. Here he passed the 
remainder of his days, and was preacher in tbis place near fifty 
years. In the year 1740, when Mr. Whitefield arrived at Newport 
iVom Charleston, he called upon Mr. Clap, and he speaks of him as 
the most venerable man he ever saw in his life. " He looked like 
a good old puritan," says Mr. Whitefield, " and gave me an idea of 
what stamp those men were, who first settled New England. His 
countenance was very heavenly, and he prayed most affectionately 
for a blessing on my coming to Rhode Island. I could not but 
think, that I was sitting with one of the patriarchs. He is full of 
days, a bachelor, and has been a minister of a congregation in 
Rhode Island upwards of forty years." Mr. Clap died October 30, 
1745, in the seventy eighth year of his age. His colleague, the 
reverend Jonathan Helyer, who was ordained June 20, 1744, died 
a few months before him, May 27, 1745. 

Mr. Clap was eminent for sanctity, piety, and an ardent desire 
to promote true godliness in others. The powers of his mind and 
his learning were above the common level, but he made no attempt 
lo display himself and attract attention. Though he had some 
singularities ; yet his zeal to promote the knowledge of Jesus 
Christ and the interests of his gospel cast a lustre over all his 
character. He was zealously attached to what he considered the true 
doctrines of grace, and to the forms of worship, which he believ- 
ed to be of divine institution ; but his charity embraced good men 
of all denominations. He had little value for merely speculative, 
local, nominal Christianity, and a form of godliness without the 
power. He insisted chiefly upon that faith, by which we are jus- 
tified and have peace with God through our Lord Jesus, and that 
repentance toward God and new obedience, which are the necessa- 
ry effect and evidence of our regeneration, and the proper exercise 
of Christianity . In his preaching he dwelt much upon the evil of sin 
and the worth of the soul, the influence of the divine Spirit in restoring 
us to the image ol God,and the necessity of constant piety and devotion. 
He addressed his brethren with the affectionate earnestness, which a 
regard to their welfare and a full conviction of the great truths of the 
gospel could not but inspire. 

He abounded in acts of charity and beneficence, being the father 
and guardian of the poor and necessitous, and giving away all his 
living. He scattered many little books of piety and virtue, and put 
himself to very considerable expense, that he might in this way 
awaken the careless, instruct the ignorant, encourage the servants 
ot Christ, and save the sinner from death. He was remarkable for 
his care with regard to the education of cliildren, and his concern 
for the instruction of servants. He knew by experience the advan- 
tages of a pious education, and fully aware of the consequences of 
suffering the youthful mind to be undirected to what is good, he 



CLA. 1S7 

gave much of his attention to the lambs of his flock. His benevo- 
lent labors also extended to the humble and numerous class of 
servants and slaves, to whom he endeavored with unwearied care to 
impart the knowledge of the gospel. Thus evincing the reality of 
his religion by the purity and benevolence of his life, he was an 
honor to the cause of the Redeemer, in which he was engaged. 
He departed this life in peace, without those raptures, which some 
express, but with perfect resignation to the will of God, and with 
humble confidence in Jesus Christ, who was the sum of his doc- 
trine and the end of his conversation. He published a sermon on 
the Lord's voice crying to the people in some extraordinary dispen- 
sations, 1715. — Callender^ii funeral sermon ; Collections hist, society .^ 
ix. 182, 183 ; Backus' abridgment, 157, 158 ; Whitef eld's journal of 
1740,39 — 45. 

CLAP (Thomas), president of Yale college, was born at Scitu- 
ate, Massachusetts, June 26, 1703, and was graduated at Harvard 
college in 1722, The early impressions, made upon his mind by 
divine grace, inclined him to the study of divinity. He was settled 
in the ministry at Windham in Connecticut August 3, 1726. 
From this place he was removed in 1739 to the presidentship of 
Yale college, as successor of the reverend Elisha Williams. This 
office he resigned September 10, 1766, and he died January 7, 1767, 
in the sixty fourth year of his age. He was succeeded by the rev- 
erend Dr. Daggett. 

Mr. Clap was one of the most profound and accurate scholars, of 
•which Connecticut can boast. He possessed strong powers of mind, 
a clear perception, and solid judgment. Though not very emi- 
nent for classical learning, he hud a competent knowledge of Latin, 
Greek, and Hebrew. In the higher branches of mathematics, in 
astronomy, and in the various departments of natural philosophy 
he had probably no equal in America, excepting professor Win- 
throp of Cambridge. He appears to have been extensively and 
profoundly acquainted with history, theology, moral philosophy, the 
canon and civil law, and with most of the objects of study in his time. 
The labors of his office left a most contemplative mind only a few 
hours for reading ; but he employed what time he could devote to 
study in a most advantageous method. He always pursued his re- 
searches systematically, with an arrangement, which had respect 
to some whole. A large library before him he treated as a collec- 
tion of reports, books delivering the knowledge and reasonings of 
the learned world on all subjects of literature. He seldom read a 
volume through in course. Having previously settled in his mind 
the particular subjects to be examined, he had recourse directly to 
the book, or the parts of a book, which would give him the desired 
information, generally passing by what did not relate to the object 
of his inquiry, however attracting and interesting. He tlius amass- 
ed and digested a v;iivi?,blf^ treas\ire of muiilion. having prosccuto^d 



188 CLA. 

almost all the principal subjects in the whole circle of literature. 
He was indefatigable in labors both secular and scientific for the 
institution, over which he presided. He was the means of building 
a college edifice and chapel ; and he gave frequent public disserta- 
tions in the various departments of learning. 

As a preacher he was solid, grave, and powerful ; not so much 
delighting by a florid manner, as impressing by the weight of his 
matter. His religious sentiments accorded with the Calvinism of 
the Westminster assembly. He had thoroughly studied the scrip- 
tures, and had read the most eminent divines of the last two hun- 
dred years. Though in his person he was not tall, he yet appeared 
rather bulky. His aspect was light, placid, and contemplative, and 
he was a cairn and judicious man, who had the entire command of 
his passions. Intent on being useful, he was economical and lived 
by rule, and was a rare pattern of industry. He had no fondness for 
parade. As he was exemplary for piety in life, so he was resigned 
and peaceful at the hour of death. When some one in his last ill- 
ness observed to him, that he was dangerously [sick, he replied, 
that a person was not in a dangerous situation, who was approach- 
ing the end of his toils. 

By some means he acquired a prejudice against Mr. Whitefield. 
He was apprehensive, that it was the design of that eloquent preach- 
er to break down our churches, and to introduce ministers .from 
Scotland and Ireland. He therefore opposed him, though it is be- 
lieved, that they did not differ much in their religious sentiments. 
He had a controversy with the reverend Mr. Edwards of North- 
ampton respecting a conversation, which passed between them in 
reference to Mr. Whitefield. He seems to have misapprehended 
Mr. Edvards. Mr. Clap constructed the first orrery, or planetari- 
um, made in America. His manuscripts were plundered in the 
expedition against New Haven under general Tryon. He had 
made collections of materials for a history of Connecticut. 

He published a sermon at the ordination of the reverend Ephraim 
Little, Colchester, September 20, 1732 ; the rehgious constitution 
of colleges, 1754 ; a brief history and vindication of the doctrines 
received and established in the churches of New England, with a 
specimen of the new scheme of religion, beginning to prevail, 1755 ; 
this scheme he collects from the writings of Chubb, Taylor, Foster, 
Hutcheson, Campbell, and Ramsay, and in opposing it he vindi- 
cates the use of creeds, and contends for the doctrines of the divin- 
ity and satisfaction of Christ, original sin, the necessity of special 
grace in regeneration, and justification by faith. He published also 
a history of Yale college, 1766 ; and conjectures upon the nature 
and motion of meteors, which are above the atmosphere, 1781.— 
Holmes' life of Stiles, 263, 393 — 396 ; and annals, ii. 281 ; Miller** 
retrospect, ii. 3G0 ; Daggett^ e fun. aermon. 



CLA. 189 

CLARK (Petee), minister of Danvers, Mas^chusetts, was 
graduated at Harvard college in 1712, and was ordained pastor of 
the first church in Danvers, or as it was then called Salem village, 
June 7, 17 17. Here he continued more than half a century. He di- 
ed about the nuddle of June 1768, in the seventy sixth year of his 
age. He was highly respected as a minister oi the gospel, and 
there were few, who were more universally venerated. He was 
very plain and faithful in his admonitions, and he applied himself 
diligently to sacred studies. Possessing an inquisitive genius, he 
read all the modern books of any note, which came in his way. By 
conversing much with some of the best and most celebrated, he had 
formed a style somewhat superior to that of most of his contempo- 
raries. He was warmly attached to the sentiments, generally em- 
braced in the New England churches. 

He published a sermon at the ordination of the reverend William 
Jennison, Salem, 1728 ; the necessity and efficacy of the grace of 
God in the conversion of the sinner, 1734 ; artillery election ser- 
mon, 1736 ; election sermon, 1739 ; a fast sermon, occasioned hy 
the war, February 26, 1741 ; a sermon before the annual convention 
of ministers, 1745 ; a defence of the divine right of infant baptism, 
Svo, 1752 ; spiritual fortitude recommended to young nven, 1757 ; 
the scripture doctrine of original sin stated and defended in a sum- 
mer morning's conversation between a minister and a neighbor, rec- 
ommended by several ministers of Boston, 1758 ; a defence of the 
principles of the summer morning's conversation, 1760 ; aDudlei- 
an lecture, \76S.—-Bar7iard'8 funeral sermon. 

CLARK (Jonas), minister of Lexington, Massachusetts, was 
born at Newton December 25, 1730, was graduated at Harvard col- 
lege in 1752, and ordained as successor of the reverend Mr. Han- 
cock November 5, 1755. Having through the course of half a cen- 
tury approved himself an able and faithful minister of the gospel, 
he died in much peace November 15, 1805, in the sevehty fifth 
year of his age. He was wholly devoted to the duties of his sacred 
calling. His public discourses consisted not of learned discussions 
on speculative or metaphysical subjects, nor yet of dry lectures on 
heathen morality ; but of the most interesting truths of the gospel, 
delivered with uncommon energy and zeal. Jn the times preced- 
ing the American revolution he v/as not behind any of his brethren 
in giving his influence on the side of his country in opposition to 
its oppressors. It was but a few rods from his own door, that the 
first blood was shed in the late war. On the morning of April 19, 
1775, he saw his parishioners most wantonly murdered. During 
the struggle, which then commenced, the anniversary of this outrage 
Avas religiously observed by him and his people. 

He published a sermon and narrative on Lexington battle ; and the 
.election sermon, 1781 .r—Co/z<?n^m7z centind, December 31, 1805; 
Panoplist, i. 324, 335. 



1.90 CLA. 

CLARKE (John,) one of the first founders of Rhode Island, 
was a physician in London before he came to this country. Soon' 
ufter the first settlement of Massachusetts, he was driven from 
that colony with a number of others ; and on the seventh of March 
1638 they formed themselves into a body politic and purchased 
Aquetneck, or Rhode Island, of the Indian sachems. Mr. Clarke 
was sopn employed as a preacher, and in 1 644 he formed a church 
at Newport and became its pastor. This was the second baptist 
church, which was established in America. In 1 649 we find him 
an assistant and treasurer of Rhode Island colony. In 1651 he 
went to visit one of his brethren at Lynn, near Boston, and he 
preached on Sunday, July 20 ; but before he had completed the 
services of the forenoon was seized Avith his friends by an officer 
of the government. In the afternoon he was compelled to attend 
the parish meeting, at the close of which he spoke a few words. 
On the thirty first he was tried before the court of assistants and fined 
twenty pounds, in case of failure in the payment of which sum he 
was to be whipped. In passing the sentence judge Endicot ob- 
served, " you secretly insinuate thing sinto those, who are weak, 
which you cannot maintain before our mhiisters ; you may try and 
dispute with them." Mr. Clarke accordingly wrote from the pris- 
on, pi'oposing a dispute upon the principles, which he professed. 
He represented his principles to be, that Jesus Christ had the sole 
right of prescribing any laws respecting the worship of God, 
which it was necessary to obey ; that baptism, or dipping in water, 
was an ordinance to be administered only to those, who gave some 
evidence of repentance towards God and faith in Jesus Christ ; 
that such visible believers only constituted the church ; that each of 
them had a right to speak in the congregation according as the Lord 
had given him talents, either to make inquiries for his own instruc- 
tion, or to prophesy for the edification of others, and that at all times 
and in all places they ought to reprove folly and open their lips to 
justify wisdom ; and that no servant of Jesus Christ had any author- 
ity to restrain any fellow servant in his worship, where injury was 
not offered to others. No dispute however look place, and Mr. 
Clarke, after paying his fine, was soon released from prison, and 
directed to leave the colony. His companion, Mr. Obadiah Holmes, 
shared a severer fate ; for on declining to pay his fine of thirty 
pounds, which his friends offered to do for him, he was publicly 
whipped in Boston. 

In 1651 Mr. Clarke was sent to England with Mr. Williams to 
promote the interests of Rhode Island, and particularly to procure a 
I'evocation of Mr. Coddington's commission as governor. Soon af- 
ter his a ri.al he published a liook, giving an account of the perse- 
cutions in New England. In October 1652 the commission of Mr. 
Coddington v.-.-.s annulled. After the return of Mr. Williams, Mr. 
Clarke was lelL behind, and continiicd in England as agent for th«* 



CLA* 191 

colony till he obtained the second charter July 8, 1663, to procure 
which he mortgaged his estate in Newport. He returned in 1664, 
and continued the pastor of his church till his death. It was a num- 
ber of years before he obtained from the assembly a repayment of 
his expenses during his absence, though a considerable reward was 
voted him. The quakers about this time occasioned much trouble 
in New England, and Mr. Clarke and his church were obliged in 
October 1673 to exclude five persons from their communion for as- 
serting, " that the man Christ Jesus was not now in heaven, nor on 
earth, nor any where else ; but that his body was entirely lost." Mr. 
Clarke died at Newport April 20, 1676, aged about fifty six years. 

His life was so pure, that he was never accused of any vice, which 
has left a blot on his memory. His sentiments respecting religious 
toleration did not indeed accord with the sentiments of the age, in 
which he lived, and exposed him to some trouble ; but at the pres- 
ent time they are almost universally embraced. His exertions to 
promote the civil prosperity of Rhode Island must endear his name 
to those, who are now enjoying the fruits of his labors. He possess- 
es the singular honor of contributing much towards establishing the 
first government upon the earth, since the rise of antichrist, which 
gave equal liberty, civil and religious, to all men living under it. He 
died resigning his soul to his merciful Redeemer, through faith in 
whose name he enjoyed the joyful hope of a resurrection to eternal 
lite. 

He left behind him a Avriting, which expressed his religious opin- 
ions. He believed, that all things, with their causes, effects, cir- 
cumstances, and manner of bemg, are decreed by God ; that this 
decree is the determination from eternity of what shall come to 
pass in time; that it is most wise, just, necessary, and unchangeable, 
the cause of all good, but not of any sin ; that election is the decree 
of God, choosing, of his free love, grace, and mercy, some men to 
faith, holiness, and eternal life ; that sin is the effect of man's free 
will, and condemnation an effect of justice, inflicted upon man for 
sin and disobedience. It was not in these opinions, bvit in his sen- 
timents respecting baptism, that he differed from the ministers of 
Massachusetts. 

In his last will he left his farm in Newport to charitable purpos- 
es ; the income of it to be given to the poor and to be employed 
for the support of learning and religion. It has produced about two 
hundred dollars a year, and has thus been promoting the public in- 
terests ever since his death. 

The title of the book, which he published in London in 1652, is, 
ill news from New England, or a narrative of New England's perse- 
cution ; wherein it is declared, that while Old England is becoming- 
New, New England is becoming Old ; also four proposals to parlia- 
ment, and four conclusions, touching the faith and order of the gos- 
pel of Christ out of his last will and testament, 4to, pp. 75. This 



192 CLA. 

work was answered by the reverend Thomas Cobbet of Lynn.— < 
Backus' church hht. of JV*. England-) iii. !227, 228 ; Backus* abridg' 
pientj 84, 86, 109 — 116. 

CLARKE ( Richard), an elegant classical scholar, came to this 
country from England before the middle of the last century. He 
was for some tinie rector of St. Philip's church in Charleston, 
South Carolina. He returned to England about the year 1758, and 
in 1768 was curate of Cheshunt in Hertfordshire. He published 
several pieces on the prophecies, and on universal redemption. 
The following are the titles of some of them. An essay on the 
number 7, wherein the duration of the church of Rome and of the 
Mahometan imposture, the time of the conversion of the Jews, and 
the year of the world for the millennium, and for the first resurrec- 
tion are attempted to be settled, 1759 ; a warning to the world, or 
the prophetical numbers of Daniel and John calculated ; a second 
warning to the world, 1762 ; glad tidings to the Jews and gentiles, 
1763; the gospel of the daily service of the law preached to the 
Jew and gentile, 1768. He seems to have been tinctured with the 
mystical doctrines of William Law and Jacob Behmen. — Miller's 
retroa/iect, ii. 365, 

CLARKE (John, D.D.), minister in Boston, was bom at Portsmouth, 
New Hampshire, April 13, 1755. He was graduated at Harvard col- 
lege in 1774, and while a member of the university was distinguished 
by his improvements in literature and science, by a strict obedience 
to the laws, and by irreproachable morals. After he received his first 
degree, he engaged in the instruction of youth ; but in his leisure 
hours he pursued with assiduity his theological studies. In the 
office of preceptor he was gentle and persuasive, beloved by his 
pup'ls, ani esteemed by their friends. He was ordained pastor of 
the first church in Boston, as colleague with the reverend Dr. 
Chauncy, July 8, 1788. With him he lived in the most intimate 
and respectful friendship about nine years, and afterwards labored 
alone in the service of the church until the Lord's day April 1, 1798, 
when, as he was addressing his hearers, he was seized by an apo- 
plexy and fell down in his pulpit. He expired the next morning, 
April second, in the forty third year of his age, and the twentieth 
of his ministry. He was succeeded by the reverend William Em- 
erson, the present pastor of the church. 

Dr. Clarke was of a mild and cheerful temper, easy and polite in 
his manners, and endeared to all his acquaintance. Though fond of 
literary and philosophical researches, he yet considered theology as 
the proper science of a minister of the gospel. To this object he 
principally devoted his time and studies, and was earnestly desirous 
of investigating every branch of it, not merely to gratify curiosity, 
but that he might be able to impart instruction. He was habitual- 
ly a close student, and it is not improbable, that his close application 
contributed to bring upon him the r^linnity, which wasth'* ocrasion 



CLA. 193 

of his fleath. Plis public discourses bore the marks of penetration, 
judgment, perspicuity, and elegance. In the private offices of 
pastoral friendship he vvas truly exemplary and engaging. Ih the 
various relations of life his deportment was marked with careful- 
ness, fidelity, and affection. 

He publisned a sermoui preached before the humane society ; 
ai Sermon on the death of the reverend Dr. Cooper ; on the death 
of the reverend Dr. Chauncy ; on the death of Dr. N. W. Apple- 
ton ; an answer to the question, why are you a christian ? an excel- 
lent work, which has passed through several editions in this coun- 
try and England ; and letters to a student at the university of Cam- 
bridge. This is a valuable work to the members of the college. Since 
his death a voluxiie of his sermons in 8vo, and a volume of discourses 
to young persons, 12mo, have been published. — Thacher's funeral 
sermon ; Collect, hist. sac. vi. i — ix ; Har die's biog. diet. ; Column 
bian centinel, Jl/iril 7, 1798. 

CLARKSON (Gerardus), a very respectable physician of 
Philadelphia, died in that city in October 1790, aged fifty thfee 
years. 

CLAYTON (John), an emhient botanist and physician of Vir- 
ginia, was born at Fulham in the county of Kent in Great Britain. 
He came to Virginia with his father in 1705, and was then most 
probably in his twentieth year. His father was an eminent lawyer, 
and was appointed attorney general of Viiginia. Young Clayton 
was rut into tne office of Mr. Peter Beverly, who was clerk or 
prothonotary for Gloucester county, and succeeding him in this 
office he filled it fifty one years. He died December 15, 1773, in 
the eighty eighth year of his age. During the year preceding his,, 
decease, such was the vigor of his constitution even at this advanc- 
ed period, and such his zeal in botanical researches, that he made a 
botanical tour through Orange county ; and it is believed, that he 
had visited most of the settled parts of Virginia. His residence 
was about twenty miles from the city of Williamsburg. 

His character stands very high as a man of integrity, and as a 
good citizen. He was a strict, though not ostentatious observer of 
the practice of the church of England, and he seemed constantly 
piously disposed. ""He was heard to say, whilst examining a flower, 
that he could not look into one without seeing the display of infi- 
nite power and contrivance, and that he thought it impossible for a 
botanist to be an atheist. He was a member of some of the most 
learned literary societies of Europe, and corresponded with Gro- 
novius, Linnaeus, and others of the ablest botanists of that portion of 
the world. As a practical botanist he Avas perhaps inferior to no 
botanist of his time. His descriptions of plants are in general so 
correct, that it is scarcely possible to remaui in doubt concerning 
the precise species, which he describes. This is especially the 
case in the latter numbers, which he transmitted to Gronovius ; 
26 



i94, CLE. 

for he had then become better acquainted with the system of Lin- 
naeus, besides enjoying that increasing facility in accurate descrip- 
uon, of which none but the progressive naturalist can form a cor- 
rect idea. 

He left behind him two volumes of manuscripts, neatly prepared 
for the press, and a hortus siccus of tolio size, with marginal notes 
and directions for the engraver in preparing the plates for his pro- 
posed work. This work, which was in the possession of his son, 
when the revolutionary war commenced, was sent to Mr. William 
Clayton, clerk of New Kent, as to a place of security from the in- 
vading enemy. It was lodged in the office with the records of the 
county. An incendiary put a torch to the building ; and- thus per- 
ished not only the records of the county, but the labors of Clayton. 

Several of his communications, treating of the culture and different 
apecics of tobacco, were published in numbers 20 1,204, 205, and 206 
of the philosophical transactions; and in number 454 isanampie ac- 
count of medicinal plantSj which he had discovered growing in Mrgin- 
ia. He is chiefly known to the learned, especially in Europe, by ii is flo- 
ra Virginica, a work published by Gronovius atLeyden in 8vo, 1739— 
1743, and again in 4to, in 1762. This is frequently referred to by 
Linnaeus, and by all the succeeding botanists, who have had occa- 
sion to treat of the plants of North America. It is to be regretted 
however, that they so frequently refer to the flora as the work of 
Gronovius, though its greatest value is derived from the masterly 
descriptions, communicated to the Leyden professor by Mr. Clay- 
ton.— flar/on'« med.atid fihys. jotimaly ii. 139 ; Rees^ cyclofitedia^ 
Amer. edit. ; Miller^ i. 142 ; ii. 368. 

CLEVELAND (John), minister of Ipswich, Massachusetts, 
was born in Canterbury, Connecticut, April 22, 1722. He was 
graduated at Yale college in 1745, and while a member of that in- 
stitution he exhioited that independence and courage in the cause 
bi truth, for which he was ever distinguished. He followed the 
convictions of his own mind, fearless of reproach. Though of a 
mild spirit, he was decided in his opinions. After being a preacher 
about two years, he was ordained at Chebacco in Ipswich in 1747 
Here he continued niore than half a century, and during his minis- 
try two separate churches and congregations were fornjed into one. 
He died April 22, 1799, aged seventy seven years. He was an 
active and enterprising man. During four years he was chaplain 
in the army, and was called to lake Champlain, cape Breton, Cam- 
bridge, and the banks of the Hudson. As a minister he was labori- 
ous and successful. At one period, in the space of about six months 
One hundred persons were added to his church. He zealously 
Cont tnded for the faith, once delivered to the saints. Though for 
a gr^it part of his life he was frequently engaged in religious con- 
trov ;rsy, yet his temper was not soured. Bt ing unfeignedly pious, 
'vhile he constantly held intercourse with heaven, he consecrated 



COB. 1^ 

■particular days to private fasting and prayer. He died at last in 
TOfiuch peace, relying securely upon the merits of his Redeemer. 

He published a narrative of the work ot God at Chebacco in 
■1763 and 1764 ; an essay to defend some of the most important 
principles in the protestant reformed system of Christianity, more 
-especiaiiy Christ's saci'ifice and atonement, against the injurious 
aspersions cast on ine same by the reverend Dr. Maynevv in a 
thanksgiving sei-mon, 1763 ; a reply to Dr. Maybew's letter of 
reproof, 1765 ; a treatise on infant baptism, 1784:.'-— Parish's fun. 
sermon; Massa. miss. mag. '\i,<\29 — 133 ; Baekusy'\u..24,\, 

COBB (Ebenezer), remarkable for longevity, was bom in 
■Plymouth, Massdchusetts, Mareh 22, 1694, and was ten years con- 
temporary with Peregrine White of Marshfield, the first son of 
1'»Jew England, who was born on board the Mayflower in cape Cod 
harbor in November 1620. Mr. Cobb died at Kingston, Decern 
•ber 8, 1801, aged one hundred and. seven years, eight months, and 
six days. He lived in three centuries, and his days were passed in 
cultivating the earth. His mode of living was simple, never va- 
rying from the plainness and frugality, which marked the habits of 
the husbandman at the beginning of the. last century. Only twice 
in his life, and then Jt was to gratify his brethren on a jury, did he 
■suastitute an enervating cup of tea in place of the invigorating 
bov/1 of broth, or the nutritive porringer, of ►milk. He never used 
glasses, but for several -years could not see to read. He was of a 
moderate stature, stooping in attitude, having an expanded chest, 
and of a fair and florid countenance. He enjoyed life in his old 
age, and in his. last year declared, that he had the same attachment 
to life as ever. He was a professed christian. As he approached 
the dose of his days, he shrewdly replied to some one, who made 
^ remark upon his expected dissolution, " it is very rare, that per^ 
sons of my age die." His posterity were not numerous, being 
only a hundred and eighty five. — Columbian centvid, Dec. 16, 1801 ; 
JV. Y. s/iectator, Dec. 23. 

COBBET (Thomas), an eminent minister and writer, was bom 
at Newbury in England in 1608. He entered the university of 
Oxford and was for some time a student there ; but in the lime of 
the plague he was induced to remove and to become a.pupil of the 
•celebrated Dr. Twiss of Newbury. Under his care he pursued his 
theological studies, and was afterwards a preacher at a small place 
in Lincolnshire. In consequence of his nonconformity to the es- 
tablished church he experienced a storm of persecution, which 
drove him to this country in 1637. He came in the same vessel 
^vith Mr. Davenport. He was soon chosen as a colleague to his 
•old friend, the reverend Mr. Whiting of Linn, with whom ho \^ 
bored in his benevolent work near twenty years. But after the 
'i'emoval of the reverend Mr. Norton of Ipswich to Boston and the 
ideath of the reverend Mr. Rogers, he became the pastor of: the 



196 COD. 

first church in Ipswich. Here he continued in the faithful clis»* 
charge of the duties ot the sacred office till his death in the begin- 
ning of the year 1686, in the seventy eighth year of his age. 

Mr. Cobbet was remarkable not only lor a constant spirit of 
devotion and for the frequency of his addresses to heaven, but for 
a particular faith, or assurance in prayer. During the wars with 
the Indians one of his sons was taken prisoner by the savages. 
The aged parent called together a number of his neighbors, and 
they mingled their prayers for the deliverance of the captive. H«i 
was impressed with the beliel, that the Father of mercies had heard 
(he supplications, addressed to him, and his heart was no more sad. 
In a few days his son, who had been redeemed of a sachem at Pe- 
nobscot for a red coat, actually returned. 

He published a treatise upon the filth commandment ; the civil 
•magistrate's power in matters of religion modestly debated. See. 
with an answer to a pamphlet, called, ill news from New England, 
by John Clarke ot Rhode Isl«nd, 1653; a practical discourse of 
prayer, 8vo, 1654 ; and an elaborate work in favor of infant bap- 
tism, which is much commended by Mr. Cotton in his preface to 
Norton's answer to t le inquiries of ApoUonius. — Maffnalia, iii. 165 
— 167 ; Sullivan's disi. of Maine ^ 216. 

COnDlNGTON (William), the father of Rhode Island, was 
a native of Lincolnshire, England. He came to this country as an 
assistant, or one of the magistrates of Massachusetts, in the year 
1630. He Avas several times rechosen to that office ; but in 1637, 
•when governor Vane, to whose interests he was attached, was su- 
perseded by Mr. Winthrop, ne also was left out of the magistracy. 
The freemen of Boston however the next day chose him and Mr. 
Vane their deputies to the court. Mr. Coddington expressed his 
diss'tisfaction in losing the office, which he had sustained, by sit- 
ting with the deacons at public worship, instead of placing himself 
as usual in the magistrates' seat, and by going to mount Wollastoa 
on the day of the general fast to hear Mr. Wheelwright. When 
the religious contentions ran high in Massachusetts in 1637, he 
defended Mrs. Hutchinson at her trial in opposition to governor 
Winthrop and the ministers ; he opposed the proceedings of the 
court against Mr. Wheelwright and others ; anil when he found 
that his exertions were unavailing, he relinquished his advantageous 
situation as a merchant at Boston, and his large property and im- 
provements in Braintrce, and accompanied the emigrants, who at 
that time left the colony. He removed to Rhode Island April 20, 
1638, and was the principal instrument in effecting the original 
settlement ot that place. His name stands first in the covenant 
signed by eighteen persons at Aquetneck, or Rhode Island, March 
7, 1638, forming themselves into a body politic to be governed by 
the laws of the Lord Jesus Christ, the King of kings. It was 
soon found necessary to have something more definite. Mr. 



COD. IW 

Coddington was appointed judge, and three elders were joined with 
him. These were directed by a vote ot the freemen January 2, 
1639, to be governed by the general rules of the word of God, 
when no particular rule was known. But this plan was changed 
March 12, 1 640, when a governor, lieutenant governor, and lour 
assistants were appointed. 

Mr. Coddmgton was chosen governor seven years siiccessively, 
until the charter was obtained, and the island was incorporated with 
Providence plantations. In 1647 he assisted in forming the body 
of laws, which has been the basis of the government of Rhode 
Island ever since. The next year, May 16, 1648, he was elected 
governor, but he declined the office on account of a controversy, in 
which he was engaged, respecting sonie lands. In September he 
made an unsuccessiul attempt to procure the reception of Rliode 
Island into the contederacy of the united colonies. In 163 1 he 
went to England and was commissioned governor of Aquetneck 
island, separate from tiie rest of the colony ; but as the people were 
jealous lest his commission should affect their laws and liberties, 
he resigned it. He now retired from public business ; but towards 
the close of his life he was prevailed on to accept the chief magis-j 
tracy. He was governor in the years 1674 and 1675. He died 
November 1, 1678, in the seventy eighth year of his age. 

He appears to have been prudent in his administration, and ac- 
tive in promoting the welfare of the little commonwealth, which 
he had assisted in founding. While he lived in Rhode Island, he 
embraced the sentiments of the friends. He was a warm advocate 
for liberty of conscience. A letter, which he wrote in 1674 to the 
governor of New England, is preserved in Besse's sufferings of the 
quakers, ii. 265 — 270. — Dedication of Caliender's hist, discourse ; 
Holmes' annals^ i. 301, 444 ; Monthhj anthology, v. 168, 169 ; 
Backus' abridgm. 43, 69 ; Adams' JSP. is. 61 ; Winthrop, 126, 128, 
154 ; Hutchi7ison.'\. 18. 

, CODMAN (John), a member of the senate of Massachusetts, 
died in Boston May 17, 1803, in the forty ninth year of his age. 
He filled the public stations, in which he was placed by the confi- 
dence of his fellow citizens, with mtegrity and honor. As a mer-! 
chant, he sustained a character of the first respectability. En- 
deared to his friends by a natural disposition, which rendered him 
Avarm in his attachments, he also possessed, by the gift of divine 
grace, a principle of benevolence, which drew upon him the bless- 
ings of the poor. In his last moments, more anxious for the 
safety of others than for his own, he resigned himself to death 
with the fortitude, calmness, and triumph, becoming the blessed 
religion, which he professed. — Aew York herald, May 35, 1803. 

COGSWELL (James, d. r>.), minister of Windham, in Con- 
necticut, was born in Saybrook January 6, 1720. In his childhood 
his parents removed to Lebanon, where Ihey remained till their ol^ 



198 COL. 

age, when "with filial affection he took them to his o-wn house. 
He was graduated at Yale college in 1742, and while a member of 
that institution, at the time of the general revival of religion 
through America, he became experimentally acquainted with the 
truth, as it is in Jesus. Forming the resolution to devote his life 
to the service of the Redeemer, he was ordained in 1744 pastor of 
the first church in Canterbury. In 177 1 he was removed from this 
charge. But early in the following year he was installed minister 
of Scotland, a parish in the town of Windham, where he continu- 
ed until December 1804. The infirmities of age now rendering 
him incapable of public service, he found a retreat for the remain- 
der of his life in the family of his son, Dr. Mason Fitch Cogs- 
well of Hartford. His own filial piety was now repaid him. He 
died January 2, 1807, aged eighty seven years. He was in early 
life distinguished for his learning, and he retained it in his old age. 
His temper was cheerful and social, and benevolence shone in his 
countenance. Under heavy afflictions he was submissive, adoring 
the sovereignty of God. His preaching was generally plain and 
practical, addressed to the understandings and consciences of his 
hearers. On the great doctrines of the gospel, which he inculcat- 
ed, he built his own hope of a blessed immortality.— /Vzno/z/es^, ii. 
581 — 583 ; Phcataqua e-vang.mag. iii. 196. 

COLDEN (Cadwallader), a respectable physician, botanist, 
and astronomer, was the son of the reverend Alexander Colden of 
Dunse in Scotland, and was l)orn February 17, 1688. After hav- 
ing received a liberal education under the immediate inspection of 
his father, he went to the university of Edinburgh, where, in 1705, 
he completed his course of academical studies. He then applied 
himself to medicine and mathematics, and was eminently distin- 
guished by his proficiency in both. Allured by the fame of Will- 
iam Penn's colony of Pennsylvania, he came over to this country 
about the year 1708, and having practised physic for some years 
with considerable reputation, he returned to England, which he 
found greatly distracted inconsequence of the troubles of 1715. 
While in London he was introduced to Dr. Hallcy, whowas so well 
pleased with a paper on animal secretions, written in that early part 
of Mr. Colden's Hfe, that he read it before the royal society, the 
notice of which it greatly attracted. At this time he formed an ac- 
quaintance with some of the most distinguished literary characters 
of England, with whom he afterwards con-esponded, giving them 
curious and useful intelligence respecting a part of the world, then 
but little known. From London he went to Scotland and married a 
young lady of a respectable Scotch family, by the name ot Cristie, 
^vith whom he returned to America in 1716. 

Brigadier general Hunter, then governor of New York, concciv- 

•cdso favorable an opinion of Mr. Colden after a short acquaintance, 

- #hat he became his warm friend, and offered his patronage, if he 



COL. 199 

t«)uld remove to New Yorlf. In 1718 he therefore settled in that 
eity, Avhere in one or two years he was made surveyor general of 
lands. He was the first, who tilled that office in the colony. Abbut 
the same time also he received, as the first evidence of his patron's 
favor, the appointment of master in chancery. In 1720, on the ar- 
rival of governor Burnet, he was honored with a seat in the king's 
council of the province. He afterwards rose to the head of this 
board, and in that station succeeded to the administration of the 
government in 1760. Previously to this he had obtained a patent 
for a tract of land about nine miles from Newburgh on Hudson's 
river ; and to this place, which in his patent is called Coldingham, 
he retired with his family about the year 1755. There he under 
took to clear and cultivate a small part of the tract as a farm, and 
his attention was divided between agricultural and philosophical 
pursuits, and the duties of his office of surveyor general. The 
spot, which he had selected for his retirement, is entirely inland^ 
and the grounds are rough and of no very superior quality. At the 
time he chose it for a residence it was so!itary, uncultivated, and the 
country around it absolutely a wilderness, without roads, or with 
such only, as were almost impassable. It was besides a frontier to 
the Indians, who committed frequent barbarities. Yet no entreaties 
of his friends, when they thought him in danger from his savage 
neighbors, could entice him from his favorite home. He chose rath- 
er to guard and fortify his house ; and amidst dangers, which would 
have disturbed the minds of most men, he appears to have been 
occupied without interruption in the pursuit of knowledge. 

In 1761 he was appointed lieutenant governor of New York, ani 
he held this commission the remainder of his life, being repeatedly 
at the head of government in consequence of the death or absence 
of several governors. His political character was rendered very 
conspicuous by the firmness of his conduct during the violent com- 
motions, which preceded the late revolution. He possessed the su- 
preme authority, when the paper, to be distributed in Nev/ York 
under the British stamp act, arrived ; and it was put under his care in 
the fortification, called fort George, which was then standing on the 
battery point. The attempt of the British parliament to raise a rev- 
cmie by taxing the colonies had, in every stage, excited a spirit of 
indignation and resentment, which had long before this risen above 
the control of government. At length a multitude, consisting of 
several thousand people, assembled under leaders, who were after- 
wards conspicuous revolutionary characters, and determined to make 
the lieutenant governor deliver up the stamp paper to be destroyed^ 
Mr. Golden had received intimation of ti.eir design, and prepared 
to defend with fidelity the trust, which had devolved upon him. 
The fort was surrounded, on the evening of February 15, 1766, by 
a vast concourse of people, who threatened to massacre him and 
his adherents, if the paper was not delivered to them ; and though 



200 COL. 

the enEjineers within assured him that the place was untenable, and 
a terrified I'dinily implored him to regard his safety, he yet pre- 
served a calmness and firmness of mind, and succeeded finally in 
securing the papers on board a British man of war, then in the 
port. ■ The populace, in the mean time, unwilling to proceed to 
extremities, gratified their resentment by burning his effigy, and 
destroying his carriages under his view. His administration is 
rendered memorable, amongst other things, by several charters of 
incorporation for useful and benevolent purposes. The corporation 
for the relief of distressed seamen, called the marine society ; that 
of the chamber of commerce ; and one for the relief of widows 
and children of clergymen will transmit his name with honor to 
posterity. After the return of Mr. Tryon, the governor, in 1775, 
he was relieved from the cares of government. He then retired 
to a seat on Long Island, where a recollection of his former studies 
and a few select friends, ever welcomed by a social and hospitable- 
disposition, cheered him in his last days. He died September 28, 
1776, a few hours before New York was wrapped in flames, which 
laid near one fourth part of the city in ashes. He complained neither 
of pain of body, nor anguish of mind, except on account of the po- 
litical troubles, which he had long predicted, and Avhich he then saw 
overwhelming the country. He retained his senses till the la^t 
moment, and expired without a groan, in the eighty ninth year of 
his age. 

Mr Colden early began to notice the plants of America, class- 
ing and distinguishing them according to the custom of botany, 
then in use. He was attentive to the climate, and left a long 
course of diurnal observations on the thermometer, barometer, and 
winds. He cultivated an acquaintance with the natives of the 
country, and often entertained his correspondents with observations 
on their customs and manners. He wrote also a history of the 
prevalent diseases of the climate ; and if he was not the first to 
recommend the cooling regimen in the cure of fevers, he was cer- 
tainly one of its earliest and warmest advocates, and he opposed 
with great earnestness the then prevalent mode of shutting up ill 
warm and confined rooms patients in the small pox. Though he 
quitted the practice of medicine at an early day, yet he never lost 
sight of his favorite study, being ever ready to give his assistance 
to his neighlwrhood, and to those, who, from his reputation for 
knowledge and experience, applied to him from more distant quar- 
ters. 

Though his principal attention, after the year 1760, was directed 
from philosophical to political matters ; yet he maintained with 
great punctuality his literary correspondence, particularly with 
Linnaeus of Upsal, Gronovius of Lcvden, Dr. Pottersfield and 
Dr. Whittle of Edinbur:!:h, and Mr. Peter Coliinson, f. r. s. of 
London, who was a most useful and affectionate friend, and t» 



COL. 201 

whom Mr. Colden, though he never saw him, owed an introduction 
to many of the most distinguished literary ehamcters of Europe. 
There were several communications between him and the carl of 
Macclesfield, who appears to h ive devoted much of his attention to 
mathematics and astronomy. He Avas the constant and intimate 
correspondent of Dr. Franklin, and they regularly communicated 
to each other their philosophical and physical discoveries, particu- 
larly on electricity, which at that time began to excite the attention 
of philosophers. In their letters are to be observed the first 
dawnings of many of those discoveiies, which Dr. Franklin has 
communicated to the world, and which have excited so much as- 
tonishment, and contributed so much to human happiness. In a 
letter to one of his friends Dr. Franklin gives an account of the 
organization of the American philosophical society, of which he 
mentions, that Mr. Colden had first suggested the idea and plan. 
It was established at Philadelphia on account of the central and 
convenient situation of that city. 

About the year 1743 a malignant fever, then called the yellow 
fever, had raged for two summers in the city of New York ; and it 
appears to have been, in all respects, similar to that disorder, which 
of late years has proved so very fatal. He communicated his 
thoughts to the public on the most probable cure of the calamity 
in a little treatise on the occasion, in which he enlarged on the bad 
effects of stagnating waters, moist air, damp cellars, filthy stores, 
and dirty streets ; showed how much these nuisances prevailed In 
many ])arts of the city ; and pointed out the remedies. The cor- 
poration of the city gave him their thanks, and established a plah 
for draining and cleaning the city, which was attended with the 
most happy effects. He also wrote and published a treatise on the 
cure of the cancer. Another essay of his on the virtues of the bor- 
tanice, or great v/ater dock, a species of rumex, introduced him to 
an acquaintance with Linnaeus. In 1753 he published some ob- 
servations on an epidemical sore throat, which appeared first at 
Kingston, Massachusetts, in 1735, and had spread over a great part 
of North America. These observations are republished in the 
American museum. 

When he became acquainted with Linnaeus' system of botany, 
he applied himself with new delight to that study. His description 
of between three and four hundred American plants were published 
in the acta Upsaliensia. He also published the history of the five 
Indian nations, and dedicated it govei'nor Burnet, who had distin- 
guished himself by his wisdom and success in the management of 
the Indians. The book was printed at I^ondon in 1747, with the 
original dedication, intended for governor Burnet, directed to gene- 
ral Oglethorpe. Mr. Colden justly complained of this as an un- 
pardonable absurdity of the printer, who took the further liberty of 
adding several Indian treaties, and other papers, without his knowl- 
27 



202 COL. 

tdge or approbation. But the subject, which drew Mr. Colden at 
one time of his life from every other pursuit, was what he first pub- 
lished under the title of the cause ot gravitation ; which, being 
much enlarged, appeared in 1751 under the title of the principles 
of action in matter, to which is added a treatise on fluxions. He di- 
ed in the fiirm persuasion, that, however he might have erred in 
the deductions, the grand, fundamental principles of his system 
were true ; and that they would at length be received as such in 
the world. This book cost him many years of close and severe 
study. He prepared a new edition of it with elucidations of such 
parts, as had been subjected to objections, and with large additions. 
At the time it was prepared for the press, he was so far advanced 
in years, that he despaired of living to see it published. He there- 
fore transmitted the manuscript to his friend and correspondent, 
Dr. Whittle, of the royal college of physicians, and professor of 
medicine in the university of Edinburgh. The fate of the work 
since that time is not known. Of his other manuscript papers, ma- 
ny of them, through the variety of hands, into which they have fal- 
len, have become mutilated, and a great part of some of them is 
entirely lost. Among these are an inquiry into the operation of in- 
tellect in animals, a piece of great originality ; another on the es- 
sential properties of light, interspersed with observations on elec- 
tricity, heat, matter, 8cc ; an introduction to the study of physic, in 
the form of instructions to one of his grandsons, and dated in the 
eighty first year of his age ; an inquiry into the causes, producing 
the phenomenon of metal medley, swimming in water ; an essay 
on vital motion ; and, lastly, observations on Mr. Smith's history of 
New York, comprehending memoirs of the public transactions, in 
which he was conversant. He complains of the partiality of Mr. 
Smith, and supposes, that he is incorrect in many particulars. — 
Reea* cxjclofKcdia, Amer. edition ; Hardic's biog. diet. ; American tnu- 
seum, iii. 53 — 59. 

COLMAN (Benjamin), first minister of the church in Brattle 
street, Boston, was born in that town October 19, 1673. He was 
-distinguished by early piety and zeal in literary pursuits, and in 
1 692 was graduated at Harvard college. Beginning to preach soon 
afterwards, his benevolent labors were enjoyed for half a year by 
the town of Mcdford. In July 1695 he embarked for London. 
During the voyage the ship, in which he sailed, was attacked by a 
Trench privateer, and Mr. Colman, though he had none of the pre- 
sumptuous fearlessness of some of his companions, yet remained up- 
on the quarter deck,'and fought bravely with the rest. Being taken 
piisoner, he was dressed in rags, and put into the hold among the 
:>ailors. When lic arrived in France, by means of a little money*, 
■which he had preserved,' he was enabled to make some improve*- 
ment in his appearance. In a few weeks he was exchanged, and 
he soon reached London. Among the eminent ministers, vitU 



COL. 203 

whom he'here became acquainted, were Messrs. Howci Calamy, and 
Burkitt. Being called to preach in different places, he supplied a 
small congregation at Cambridge for a few weeks, and was succeed- 
ed by the learned James Pierce, who by his mathematical knowl- 
edge attracted the notice of Mr. Whiston, and becoming his friend 
imbibed his Arian sentiments. He afterwards preached about two 
years at Bath, where he became intimately acquainted with Mrs. 
Rowe, then Miss Singer, and admired her sublime devotion as well 
as ingenuity and wit, and afterwards corresponded with her. 

A new society having been formed in Brattle street, Boston, the 
principal gentlemen, who composed it, sent him an invitation to re- 
turn to his native country, and to-be their minister. The peculiar 
constitution of this church, differing from that of the other churches 
in New "England, rendered the founders desirous, that he should be 
ordained in JLondon. They approved of the confession of faith 
composed by the Westminster assembly ; but they were averse to 
the public relation of experiences, then practised previously to 
admission into the churches, and they wished the scriptures to be 
read on the sabbath, and the Lord's prayer to be used. These inno- 
vations, the founders believed, would excite alarm, and to avoid dif- 
ficulty Mr. Colman was ordained by some dissenting ministers in 
London August 4, 1699. He arrived at Boston on the first, of No- 
vember following, and December twenty fourth the new house of 
worship was opened and Mr. Colman preached in it for the first 
time. From the year 1701 he had for his assistant about two years 
and a half the reverend Eliphalet Adams, afterwards minister of 
New London. Mr. William Cooper was ordained his colleague 
IMay 23, 17 16, and after his death in 1743 his son, the reverend Dr. 
Cooper, was settled in his place. Dr. Colman died August 29, 
1747, in the seventy fourth year of his age. 

He was an eminently useful and good man, and was universally 
respected for his learning and -talents. He was distinguished as a 
preacher. Tall and erect in stature, of a benign aspect, present- 
ing in his whole, appearance something amiable and venerable, and 
having a peculiar expression in his eye ; he was enabled to interest 
his hearers. His voice was harmonious, and his action inimitable. 
He was ranked among the first ministers of New England. Jesus 
Christ was the great subject of his preaching He dwelt upon the 
Redeemer in his person, natures, offices, and benefits,; in his eternal 
Godhead; in the covenants of redemption and of gr^e; and, upon 
the duties of natural religion as performed, only by strength derived 
from the Savior and as acceptable only for his sake. He had a hap- 
py way of introducing large paragraphs of scripture to enrich his 
discourses, and he frequently embellished them by allusions to the 
historical parts of the sacred volume. He could delight by the 
gracefulness of his manner, and never by boisterousness and vi- 
'Olence transgressed the decorum of the pulpit ; yet he knew how 



204 COL. 

to preach with closeness and pun'Tcency, and could array the teiTors 
of the Lord before the children of iniquity. It may excite surprise 
at the present day^thut the practice of reufiing the scripture and re- 
peating the Lord's prayer, as a part of the siervices of the sabbath, 
should have excited opposition ; but many were offended, though it 
was not long before a number of other churches followed in the steps 
of Brattle street. The ground of opposition to this new church was 
the strong features of episcopacy, which it was imagined, were to 
be discerned in it. 

In the various duties of the pastoral office Dr. Coiman was dili- 
gent and faithful. He catechised the children of his congregation, 
addressed them upon the concerns of their souls, and as they advanc- 
ed in years was vu'gent in his persuasions to induce them to ap- 
proach the table of the Lord. His church had entrusted him with 
authority to jutige ot the qualifications of commvmicants, and it was 
thought by many, that he was -oo free in his admissions to the sup- 
per. Bu- he was far from thinking, that a competent knowledge of 
Christianity and a moral life were sufficient qualifications. He 
thought} that there should be a credible profession of repentance and 
faith, with serious purposes and promisci of new obedience through 
the influence of the divine Sjiirit ; and he believed, that the purity 
ot the churches w ould be corrupted, if there was an indiscriminate 
and general admission to the sucrament. 

While he entertained the highest veneration for the fathers of 
New England, and was very f icndly to confessions of faith, and to 
the publication of them on piirticular occasions, he used to say, that 
the bible was his platform. In his sentiments upon church govern- 
ment he inclined towards the presbyterians. He was opposed to 
the practice adopted by the churc"' es of sending for counsel whcre- 
ever they pleased, believing the neighboring churches to be the 
proper counsellors. As he he conceived, that al' baptized per- 
sons, who made a credible profession of the religion of Christ, were 
members of the church, he thought that they should not be prohib- 
ited from voting in the choice of a minister. At the same time, 
he considered them as very reprehensible, if they neglected to 
approach the table of the Lord. 

Such was the estimation, in which Dr. (^olman was held, that af- 
ter the death of Mr. Leverett in 1724, he wi's chosen his successor 
as president of Harvard college ; but he declined the appointment. 
He however rendered great service to the institution. He procur- 
ed benetactors for it, and took indefatigable pains, in forming rules 
and orders relating to the settlement of the Hollisian professor of 
divinity in Cambridge His care also extended to Yale college, for 
which he procured many valuable books. In 1732 he addressed a 
letter to Mr. Adams of New London, one of its trustees, desiring 
him to vindicate that collegr- from the charge of Arminianism. By 
his acquaintance in Englapil his usefulness Mas much increased 



COL. 205 

He received from Mr. Samuel Holden of London thirty nine sets 
of the practical works of Mr. Baxter in four massy volumes, folio, 
tn distribute among: our churches. He procured also benefactions 
for the Indians at Houssatonnoc, and engaged with earnestness in 
promoting the objects of that mission, which was entrusted to the 
care of the reverend Mr. Sergeant. But liis labors were not con- 
fined to what particularly related to his profession. He was em- 
ployed, in his younger as well as in his later years, on weighty af- 
fairs by the general court, and was sometimes called upon to 
draught letters and addresses. No minister has since possessed so 
great influence. His attention to civil concerns drew upon him cen- 
sure and at times insult ; but he thought himself justified in em- 
bracing every opportunity for doing good. He knew the interest 
of his country and was able to promote it ; and he could not admit, 
that the circumstance of his being a minister ought to prevent his exer- 
tions. Still there were few men, more zealous and unwearied in the la- 
bors of his sacred office. His character was singularly excellent. Hay- 
ing imbibed the true spii-it of the gospel he was catholic, moderate, 
benevolent, ever anxious to promote the gospel of salvation. He 
was willing to sacrifice every thing, but truth, to peace. Once a 
seventh day baptist from Rhode Island visited him to dispute con- 
cerning the sabbath. Having heard his arguments patiently and 
answered him mildly, and perceiving that the disputatious humor 
of his opponent was in no dc~ree softened, he declined a continu- 
ance of the controversy by offering to direct him to a person, who 
would be a proper antagonist in his own way. After a life con- 
spicuous for sanctity and usefulness, he met the king of terrors with- 
out fear. In the early part of his life his health was very in- 
firm ; sicknes frequently reminded him of his mortality ; and he 
made it his constant care to live in readiness for death, and evei^ 
kept his will made, that he might not be obliged to attend to worldly 
concerns on his dying bed. With a feeble constitution, he yet was 
able to preach on the very sabbath before he died. His life was writ- 
ten by the reverend Mr. Turell, who married his daughter, and 
published in 8 vo, in 1749. 

He published an artillery sermon in 1702 ; the government and 
improvement of mirth in three sei-mons, 1707 ; imprecation against 
the enemies of God lawful ; practical discourses on the parable of 
the ten virgins, 8vo, 1707 ; a poem on the death of the reverend 
Mr. Willard ; the ruler's piety and duty ; a sermon on the imion 
of England and Scotland, 1708 ; on seeking God early, 1713 ; the 
heinous nature of the sin of murder ; on the incomprchensibleness 
of God in four sermons, 1715 ; ihe precious gifts of the ascended 
Savior ; the blessing and honor of fruitful mothers ; divine com- 
passions magnified ; funeral sermons on madam Alngail Foster, 
1711; Mrs. Elizabeth Wainwright, 1714 ; honorable Isaac Adding* 
ion, and reverend Thomas Bridge, 1714; Mrs. Elizabeth Hirsts 



206 COL. 

1716 ; reverend Messrs. Braltlc and Pemberton, and Grove HirsJ, 
esquire, 1717 ; governor Dudley, 1720 ; William Harris, esquire, 
1721 ; madam Steel, Mr. David Stoddard, and Dr. Increase Math- 
er, 1723 ; president Leverett, 1724 ; Dr. Cotton Mather, 1728 ; 
reverend Solomon Stoddard and William Welsted, esquire, 1729 ; 
honorable Simeon Stoddard, 1730 ; Thomas HoUis, esquire, 1731 ; 
on his eldest daughter, 1735; Thomas Steel, esquire, 1736; rev- 
erend Peter Thacher, 1739 ; honorable Samuel Holden, 1740 ; 
reverend William Ck)oper, 1743 ; Mrs. Frances Shirley, 1746 ; the 
warnings of God unto young people, 1716 ; a sermon for the refor- 
mation of manners ; our fathers' sins confessed with our own ; a 
thanksgiving sermon for the suppression of the rebellion in Great 
Britain ; at the ordination of the reverend William Cooper, 1717 ; 
the rending of the vail of the temple ; five sermons on the strong 
man armed ; the pleasure of religious worship in our public assem- 
blies ; an election sermon, 1718 ; the blessing of Zebulun and Is- 
sachar ; reasons for a market in Boston, 1719; early piety incul- 
cated, 1720 ; early piety towards men, 1721 ; some observations 
en inoculation ; Jacob's vow, 1722; Moses a witness to Christ, a 
sermon at the baptism of Mr. Monis, 1722; an election sermon, 
1723 ; God deals with us as rational creatures; the duty of parents 
to pray for their children ; the doctrine and law of the holy sabbath, 
1725 ; a sermon preached to pirates, 1726 ; a sacramental dis- 
course, 1727 ; a sermon at the ordination of Mr. Pemberton of 
New York ; on the acession of king George II ; live sermons on 
the great earthquake ; twenty sacramental sermons on the glories 
of Christ, 8vo, 1728 ; the duty of young people to give their hearts 
to God, four sermons ; death and the grave without any order ; a 
treatise on family worship ; on governor Belcher's accession, 1730 ; 
Ihe grace given us in the preached gospel, 1732 ; God is a great 
king, 1733 ; the fast, which God hath chosen, 1734; a dissertation 
on the three first chapters of Genesis, 1735 ; a dissertation on the 
image of God wherein man was created, 1736; merchandise and 
hire holiness to the Lord ; righteousness and compassion the ruler's 
duty and character ; the divine compassions new every morning, 
1737 ; waiting on God in our straits and difficulties, 1737 ; an ar- 
tillery election sermon, 1738; the unspeakable gift, 1739; the 
withered hand restored ; pleasant to see souls flying to Christ, 1740; 
on governor Shirley's accession, 1741 ; the word of God magnified 
"by him, 1742 ; the glory of God's power in the firmament; satan's 
fiery darts in hellish suggestions in several sermons, 1744^ at the 
ordination of the reverend Samuel Cooper, 1746 — TureWa life and 
character of Col man ; 7/iarher's century sermon ; Ho/ikina* history 
of Housfiatonnoc Indians. * 

COLUMBUS (Christopher), the first discoverer of the new 
■world, was born in Gerioa in the year 1447, and at the age of four- 
Teen entered on a seafaring life. He was educated in the sciences 



COL, 207 

of geometfy and astronomy, which form the basis of navigation, and 
was well versed in cosmography, history, and philosophy, having 
studied some time at Pavin. To equip him'^elf more completely 
for making discoveries he leamed to draw. During one of his voy- 
ages the ship, in which he sailed, took fire in an engagement with 
a Venetian galley, and by the help of an oar he swam two league* 
to the coast of Portugal near Lisbon. 

He married at Lisbon the daughter of Perestrello, an old seaman^ 
•who had been concerned in the discovery of Porto Santo and Ma- 
deira, from whose journals and charts he received the highest en- 
tertainment. The Portuguese were at this time endeavoring to 
find a way to India round Africa ; they had been pursuing this ob- 
ject for half a century without attaining it, and had advanced no far- 
ther along the coast of Africa than just to cross the equator, when 
Columbus conceived his great design of finding India in the west. 
He knew from observing lunar eclipses, that the earth was a sphere, 
and concluded, that it might be travelled over from east to west, or 
from west to east. He also hoped, that between Spain and India 
some islands would be found, which would be resting places in his 
voyage. Some learned writers had asserted, that it was possible to 
effect what he was now resolved to accomplish. So early as the 
year 1474 he had communicated his ideas in writing to Paul Fos- 
canelli, a learned physician of Florence, who encouraged his design, 
sending him a chart, in which he had laid down the supposed capi- 
tal of China but little more, than two thousand leagues westward 
from Lisbon. The stories of mariners, that carved wood, a covered 
canoe, and human bodies of a singular complexion -had been found 
after westerly winds, also contributed to settle his judgment. Hav- 
ing established his theory and formed his design, he now began to 
think of the means of carrying it into execution. Deeming the en- 
terprise too great to be undertaken by any but a sovereign state, he 
applied first, according to Herrera, to the republic of Genoa, by 
whom his project was treated as visionary. Ferdinand© Columbus 
in his life of his father says nothing of this application, but repre- 
sents, that the plan was first proposed to John II, king of Portugal, 
because his father lived under him. This king had encountered 
such vast expense in fruitless attempts to find away to India around 
the African continent, that he was entirely indisposed to give to 
Columbus the encouragement, which he wished to obtain. By the 
advice however of a favorite courtier he privately gave orders to a 
ship, bound to the island of cape de Verd, to attempt a discovery in 
the west ; but the navigators, through ignorance and want of enter- 
prise, effected nothing, and on reaching their destined port turned 
tbc project of Columbus into ridicule. When he became acquaint- 
ed with this dishonorable conduct of the king, he quitted Portugal 
in disgust, and repaired to Ferdinand, king of Spain. He had pre- 
viously sent his brother Dartholcmew to England to solicit the pat- 



208 COL. 

ronage of Henry VII, but on his passage he was taken by pirates, 
and he was dciained a number of years in captivity. The proposal 
of Columbus was referred to the consideratioaof the most learned 
men in Spain, who rejected it for various reasons, one of which was, 
that if a ship should sail westward on a globe, she would necessarily 
go down on the opposite side, and then it would be impossible to re- 
turn, for it would be like climbing up a hill, which no ship could do 
with the strongest wind. But by the mfluence of Juan Perez, a 
Spanish priest, and Lewis Santangel, an officer of the king's house- 
hold, queen Isabella was persuaded to listen to his request, and af- 
ter he had been twice repulsed recalled him to court. She offered 
to pawn her jewels to defray the cxpenseof the equipment, amount- 
ing to no more than two thousand five hundred crowns; but the 
money was advanced by Santangel. Thus after seven years' pain- 
ful solicitation he obtained the patronage, which he thought of the 
highest importance in executing his plan. 

By an agreement with their catholic majesties of April 17, 1492, 
he was to be viceroy and admiral of all countries, which he should 
discover, and was to receive one tenth part of the profits, accruing 
from their productions and commerce. He sailed from Palos in 
Spiiin August 3, 1492, with three vessels, two of which were called 
caravels, being without decks, having on board in the whole ninety 
men. He himself commanded the largest vessel, called Santa Ma- 
ria. He left the Canaries on the sixth of September, and when he 
was about two hundred leagues to the west the magnetic needle was 
observed, September fourteenth, to vary from the pole star. This 
phenomenom filled the seamen with terror, but his fertile genius by- 
suggesting a plausible reason in some degree quieted their appre- 
hensions. After being twenty days at sea without the sight of land, 
the sailors became impatient ; they insisted upon his return ; and 
some of them talked of throwing their commander into the ocean. 
All his talents were required to dispel their fears and stimulate 
their hopes. At length, when he was almost reduced to the neces- 
sity of abandoning the enterprise, at ten o'clock in the night of Oc- 
tober eleventh, he saw a light, which was supposed to be on shore, 
and early the next morning, Friday, October twelfth, land was dis- 
tinctly seen, which proved to be Guanahana, one of the the Bahama 
islands. Thus in the forty fifth year of his age he effected an ob- 
ject, which he hud been twenty years in projecting and executing. 
At sunrise the boats were manned and the adventurers rowed to- 
ward the shore with music and in martial pomp. The coast was 
covered with people, who were overwhelmed with astonishment. 
Columbus went first on shore, and was followed by his men. Thejr 
all kneeling down, kissed the ground with tears joy of and returned 
thanks for their successful voyage. This island, which is in the 
twenty fifth degree of north latitude and is sometimes called Cat 
island, was named by Columbus San Salvador. Having di'Dco■^'ered 



COL. 209 

ii number of other islands, and among tliem Cuba on the twenty 
seventh of October, and Hispaniola on tlie sixth of December, he 
began to think of returning. His large ship having been wrecked 
on the shoals of Hispaniola, he built a fort with her timber, and lefi; 
behind him a colony of thirty nine men at the port, which he called 
Navidad [the nativity], because he entered it on Christmas day. 
From this place he sailed January 4-, 1493. During his passage, 
when threatened with destruction by a violent storm, he wrote an 
account of his discoveries on parchment, which he wrapped in a 
piece of oiled cloth and enclosed in a cake ofAvax. This he put in- 
to a tight cask and threw it into the sea with the hope, that it might 
be driven ashore, and that his discoveries might not be lost, if the 
vessel should sink. But he was providentially saved from destruc- 
tion, and arrived safe at Lisbon on the fourth of March. On the 
fifteenth he reached Palos, and was received with the highest to- 
kens of honor by the king and queen, who now made him admiral of 
Spain. 

He sailed on his second voyage to the new world September 25, 
1 493, having a fleet of three ships of war and fourteen caravels, and 
about one thousand five hundred people, some of whom were of the 
first families in Spain. The pope had granted in full right to Ferdi- 
nand and Isabella all the countries from pole to pole beyond a line 
drawn one hinidred leagues west of the Azores ; and their catholic 
majesties had confirmed to Columbus his privileges, making the 
office of viceroy and governor of the Indies hereditary in his fam- 
ily. On the Lord's day, Novembers, he discovered an island, which 
in honor of the day he called Dominica. Alter discovering Mari- 
galante, so called in honor of his ship, Guadaloupe, Montserrat, 
Antigua, and other islands, he entered the port of Navidad, on the 
north side of Hispaniola, where he had left his colony ; but not a 
Spaniard was to be seen, and the fort was entirely demolished. 
The men, whom he had left in this place, had seized the provisions 
of the natives and their women, ;>.nd exhibited such rapacity, as to 
excite the indignation of tlie Indians, who had in consequence 
burned the fort and cut them off. On the eighth of December he 
landed at another part of the same island near a rock, which was a 
Convenient situation for a fort ; and here ho built a toAvn, which he 
called Isabella, and wliich was the first town, founded by Europeans 
in the new world. He discovered Jamaica May 5, 1494, where he 
found water and other refreshments for his men, of which they 
were in the greatest want. On his return to Hispaniola September 
29, he met his brother Bartholomew, from whom he had been 
separated thirteen years, and whom he supposed to be dead. His 
brother had brought supplies from Spain in three ships, which he 
commanded, and arrived at a time, when his prudence, experience, 
and bravery were peculiarly needed ; for Columbus on his return 
found the colony in the utmost confusion. Their licentiousness 

?,8 



210 COL, 

had provoked the natives, who had united a^inst tlieir invaders, 
and had actually killed a number of the Spaniards. He collected 
his people, ancl prevented the destruction, whxli threatened them. 
In the spring of 1495 he carried on a war aijainst the natives, and 
with two hundred men, twenty horses and as many dogs, he defeat- 
ed an army of Indians, which has been estimated at one hundred 
thousand. In al)out a year he reduced the natives to submission. 
But while Columbus was faithfully employing his talents to pro- 
tnotc the interests of his sovereign, his enemies were endeavoring 
to ruin his character. He was a Ibrcigner, and the proud Spaniards 
could not patiently see him elevated to such honors. He did not 
require so enormous a tribute of the Indians, as some of his ra- 
pacious fellow adventurci's would impo'oC, and cornphdnts against 
him were entered with the king's ministers. The discipline, 
which he maintained, was represented as severity, and the pvmish- 
incnts, which he inflicted, as cruelty ; and it was su(;gested, tliat he 
was aiming to make himself independent. These whispers excited 
suspicion in the jealoiis mind of I'crdmand, and Columbus was re- 
duced to the necessity of returning to the Spanish court, tliat he 
might vindicate himself from these false charges. After placing 
the affairs of the colony in the best possible condition, and leaving 
the supreme power in the hands of his brother Bartholomew, he 
sailed from Isabella on the tenth of March 1496, having with him 
thirty Indians. He first visited several islands, and leaving the 
West Indies April 20, he arrived at Cadiz, after a dangerous and te- 
dious voyage, on the eleventh of June. 

His presence at court, with the influence of the gold and other 
valuable articles, which he carried with him, removed in some de- 
gree the suspicions, which had been gathering in the mind of the 
king. But his enemies, though silent w^ere not idle. They threw 
such obstructions in his way, that it was near two years before ho 
could again set sail to continue his discoveries. I'onseca, bishop of 
Badajos, who in September 1497 was reinstated in the direction of 
Indian aflfairs, was his principal enemy. It was he, who patronized 
Amerigo. 

On the thirtieth of May 1498 he sailed from Spain on his third 
voyage with six ships. At the Canary islands he dispatched three 
of his ships with provisions to Hispaniola, and with the other three 
he kept a course more to the south. He discovered Trinidad July 
31, and the continent at Terra Firma on the iirst of August. Hav- 
ing made many other discoveries he entered the port of St. Do- 
mingo in Hispaniola August 30. By the direction of Columbus his 
brother had begun a settlement in this place, and it was now made 
the capital. Its name >vas given to it in honor of Dominic, the fath- 
er of Columbus. He found the colony in a state, which aAvakened 
his most serious apprehensions. Francis Roldan, whom he had left 
chief justice, i)ad exdled a considerable number of the Spaniards 



COL. 211 

to mutiny, lie had attempted to seize the magazine and fort, but 
failinij of success, retired to a distant part of the island. Columbus 
had not a force sufficient to subdue him, and he dreaded the effects 
of a civil war, wliich miglit put it in the power of the Indians to de- 
stroy the whole culony. He had recourse therefore to address. 
By promising pardon to such as should submit, by offering the lib- 
erty of return to Spain, and by offering to reestablish Roldan in his 
office he in November dissolved this dangerous combination. Some 
ot the refractory were tried and put to death. 

As soon as his affaii-s would permit, he sent some of his ships to 
Spain with a journal of his voyage, a chart of the coast which he 
iiad discovered, specimens of the gold and pearls, and an account of 
the insurrection. Roldan at the same time sent home his accusa- 
tions against Columbus. The suspicions of Ferdinand were reviv- 
ed, and they were fomented by Fonseca and others. It was resolv- 
ed to send to Hispaniola a judge, who should examine facts upon 
the spot. Francis de IJovadiila was appointed for this purpose, 
with full powers to supersede Columbus, if he fovmd him guilty. 
When he arrived at St. Domingo, all dissensions were composed ifi 
the island, effectual provision was made for M'orking the mines, and 
the authority of Columbus over the Spaniards and Indians was well 
established. But Bovaciilla v/as determined to treat him as a crim- 
inal. He accordingly took possession of his house and seized hi.s 
effects, and assuming the government ordered Columbus to be ar- 
rested in October 1 500, and loaded with irons. He was thus sent 
liome as a prisoner. The captain of the vessel, as soon as he was 
clear of the island, offered to release him from his fetters. " No," 
said Columbus, " I wear these irons in consequence of an order of 
my sovereigns, and their command alone shall set me at liberty." 
He arrived at Cadiz November fifth, and on the seventeenth of De» 
cember was set at liberty by the command of Ferdinand and invited 
to court. He vindicated his conduct and brought the most satisfy- 
ing pi'oofs of the fnalevolence of his enemies. But though his sove- 
reigns promised to recal Bovadilla, they did not restore Columbus 
to his government. Their jealousy was not yet enlireiy removed. 
In the beginning of 1502 Ovando was sent out governor of Hispan- 
iola, and thus a new proof was given of the suspicion and injustice 
of the Spanish king. But Columbus was still intent on discovering 
a passage to India. He sailed again from Cadiz in the beginning 
of May 1502 with four small vessels, the largest of which was but 
of seventy tons. He arrived "off St. Domingo June 29, but Ovan- 
do refused him admission into the port. A fleet of eighteen sail 
was at this time abovit setting sail for Spain. Columbus advised 
Ovando to stop them for a few days, as he perceived the prognos- 
tics of an approaching storm, but his salutary warning was disre- 
garded. The fleet saded, and of the eighteen vessels, but two ov 
Ahree escaped the hurricane. In this general wreck perished Bo* 



21S COL. 

vadille, 'Roldan, and the other one mics of Coliimbusj together with 
the immense wealth, which they had unjustly acquired. Columbua 
under the lee of the shore rode out the tempest with great difficulty. 
He soon left Hispaniola, and discovered the bay of Honduras. Ho 
then proceeded to cape Gracias a Dios and thence along the coast 
to the isthmus of Darien, where he hoped but in vain to find a pas- 
sage to the great sea beyond the continent, wliich he believed would 
conduct hiiu to India. On the second of November he found a har- 
bor, which on account of its beauty he called Porto Bcllo. He after- 
wards met with such violent storms, as threatened liis leaky vessels 
with destruction. One of them he lost and tlie other he was oblig- 
ed to alwndon. With the two remaining ships he with the utmost 
difficulty reached the island of Jamiaca in 1503, being obliged to run 
them aground to prevent them from sinking. His ships were ruin- 
ed beyond the possibility of being repaired, and to convey an ac- 
count of his situation to Hispaniola seemed impracticable. But his 
fertile genius discovered the only expedient, which was left him. 
He obtiuned from the natives two of their canoes, each form- 
ed out of a single tree. In these two of his most feitliful friends 
offered to set out on a voyage of above thirty leagues. They reach- 
ed Hispaniola in ten days, but they solicited relief for their com- 
panions eight months in vain. Ovando was governed by a mean 
jealousy of Columbus, and he was willing, that he should perish. 
In the mean time Columbus had to struggle with the greatest diffi- 
x:ulties. His seamen threatened his life for bringing them into such 
trouble ; they mutinied, seized a number of boats, and went to a dis- 
tant part of the island ; the natives murmured at the long residence 
' of the Spaniards among them and began to bring in their provisions 
'with reluctance. But the ingenuity of Columbus again relieved 
him from his difficulties. He knew that a total eclipse of the moon 
Avasnear. On the day before it took place he assembled the prin- 
cipal Indians, and told them the Great Spirit in heaven was angry 
with them for withdrawing their assistance from his servants, the 
Spaniards ; that he was about to punish them ; and that as a sign of 
his wrath the moon would be obscured that very night. As the 
•eclipse came on, they ran to Columbus, loaded with provisions, and 
-entreated his intercession with the great Spirit to avert the destruc- 
tion, which threatened them. From this time the natives were 
wery ready to bring their provisions, and they treated the Spaniards 
with the greatest respect. 

At the end of eight months Ovando sent a small vessel to Jamai- 
ca to spy out the condition of Cohimbus, Its approach in- 
spired the greatest joy ; but the officer, after delivering a cask 
of wine, two flitches of bacon, and a letter of compliment, im- 
tnediatcly set sail on his return. To quiet the murmurs, which 
were rising, Columbus told his companions, that he himself 
-had refusetl to return in the caravel, because it was too small to 



COL. ^U 

lake the whole of them ; but thatanotlicr vessel woiilUsouii lurivx to 
take them oft". The mutineers from a distant part of the island were ^>. 
proaching, and it was nece-ssary to oppose them with force. Cohimbua, 
being afflicted with the gout, sent his brother Bartholomew against 
them, who on their refusing to submit attacked them, and took tlieir 
leader prisoner. At length a vessel, which was purchasied by one of 
his friends, who went to Hispauiok for his relief, came to Jamaica 
and released him from his unpleasant situation. On his arrival at 
St. Domingo August 13, 1504, Ovando received him with the most 
studied respect, but as he soon gave new proofs of his malevolence, 
Columbus prepai'ed for his return to Spain. In September he set 
sail, accompanied by his brother and son, and after a long voyage, 
in which he encountered violent storms, and after sailing seven hun- 
dred leagues with jury masts he reached the port of St. Lucar in De- 
cember. He nov/ was informed of the death of his patroness, Isa- 
bella. He soon repaired to court, and after spending about a year 
^n fruitless solicitations for his violated rights, and after calling in 
vain vipon a sovereign to respect his engagements, he died at Valla- 
dolid May 20, 1506, in the fifty ninth year of his age. He was bu- 
ried magnificently in the cathedral of Seville with this inscription 
on his tomb ; 

A Castilla y a I^on 
Nuevo mundo dio Colon. 

That is, 
To Castile and Leon 
Columbus gave a new world. 
In the character of Columbus were combined the qualities, which 
constitute greatness. He possessed a strong and penetrating mind. 
He knew the sciences, as they were taught at the period, in which 
Jhe lived. He was fond of great enterprises, and capable of prose- 
cuting them with the most unwearied patience. He surmounted 
xlifficulties, which would have entirely discouraged persons of less 
firmness and constancy of spirit. His invention extricated him 
from many perplexities, and his prudence enabled him to conceal 
or subdue his own infirmities, whilst he took advantage of the pas- 
sions of others, adjusting his behavior to his circumstances, tem- 
porizing, or acting with vigor, as the occasion required! He was a 
man of undaunted courage and high thoughts. 

The following instance of the ingenuity of Columbus in vindicat- 
ing his claini to respect for his discoveries is related by Peter Mar- 
tyr. Not long before his death, at a public dinner, the nobility in- 
sinuated, that his discoveries were rather the result of accident, than 
of well concerted measures. Columbus heard them decry his ser- 
vices for some time, but at length called for an egg, Mul asked them 
to set it upright on on its smaller end. When they confessed it to 
be impossible, he flatted its shell by striking it gently upon th« table 
till it stood upright. The cempanv immediately exclaimed with a 



214 CON. 

sneer, '•' any body might liavc done it." " Yes," said Columbus, 
'* but none ot you thought of it. So I discovered the Tndies, and 
now every pilot CdU steer the same course. Remember the scoffs, 
which were tlirown at me before I put my design in execution. 
Then it was a dream, a chimera, a delusion ; now it is what any 
body might have done as well as I." 

Columbus was tall of stature, long visaged, of a majestic aspect, 
his nose hooked, his eyes grey, of a clear complexion, and some- 
whit ruddy. He was witty and pleasant, well spoken and elegant. 
His conversation was discreet, which gained him the affections of 
those with whom he had to dca], and his presence attracted respect, 
baving an air of authority and grandeur. He was always temperate 
in eating and drinking and modest in his dress. He understood 
Latin and composed verses. In religion he was very zealous and 
devout. 

Columbus was ev^v faithful to his prince. How far the artifices^ 
to which he had recourse in the dangerous circun\stances, in which 
he was placed, can be justified, it might not be easy to decide. He 
is represented as a person, who always entertained a reverence for 
the deity, and confidence in hia protection. His last words were, 
" into thy hands, () Lord, I commend my spiiit." His life was 
written by his son Ferdinand. — Robertson's history of America^ book 
ii ; Belknafi's biografihijf i. 86 — 148 ; Holmes* annals, j\, 1—24 ^ 
Herr era's hist, of Amfrica, i ; life of Columbus. 

CONNECTICUT, one of the United States of America, at 
the time of the first arrival of the English, was possessed by the 
Pequot, the Mohegan, the Podunk, and many other smaller tribes 
of Indians. The Peqviots, who were numerous and warlike, and 
■who occupied the territory along the sea coast from Paukatuck to 
Connecticut river, about the year 1630 extended their conquest 
over a considerable portion of Connecticut, over Long Island, and u 
part of Narraganset. Sassacus was the grand sachem, whose seat 
was at New London, the ancient Indian name of which was Pequot. 
He had under him twenty six petty sachems. One of these was 
Uncas, chief of the Mohegans, whose territory con)i>rehended most 
of New L9ndon county, almost the whole county of Windham, 
and a part of the counties of Tolland and Hartford. The Podunks 
inhabited East Hartford and the circumjacent country. 

The first grant of Connecticut was made by the Plymouth coun- 
cil in England to the earl of Warwick in 1 630 ; and in the following 
year he assigned this grant to lord Say and Seal, lord Brook, and 
others. Attracted by the trade with the Indians, some of the set- 
tlers of Plymouth had explored Connecticut river in the years 1631 
and 1632, and fixed upon a place in Windsor, as suitable for the es- 
tablishment of a trading house. Whether the Dutch of New Neth- 
erlands or New York had before this discovered the river is uncer- 
tain, though it is probable, that they had. By their own accounts they 



CON. 2l§ 

,»iad built a fort upon it as early as 1623. Without a question, how- 
ever, the fust settlement was made by them. In October 1633 a 
company from Plymouth, with materials for a house, sailed for Con- 
necticut to execute the plan, which had been formed by the traders. 
On their arrival ut the place, where Hartford now stands, they found 
a light tort, which had just been built by the Dutch, and two pieces 
of cannon planted. They were ordered to strike their coloi s, but 
they resolutely^roceeded, and landing on the west side of the river 
set up their house about a mile above the fortification of the Dutch. 
This was the iirst house erected in Connecticut. The Indian trade 
had become too important to be neglected. Otter and beaver skins 
to the amount in value of a thousand pounds sterling had been sent 
in a single ship to England, and the Dutch purchased not less than 
ten thousand beavers annually. 

In the summer of 1635 some of the people of Massachusetts 
made preparations for a settlement on Connecticut river near the 
Plymouth trading house. On the fifteenth of October about sixty 
men, women, and children commenced their journey through the 
wilderness, and in fourteen days arrived at the place of their destina- 
tion. The reverend Mr. V/arham, with a company from Dorches- 
ter, settled at Mattancang, which they called Windsor ; several 
people from Watertown commenced a plantation at Pauquiaug, 
which they called Wethersfield ; and others from Newtown estab- 
lished tlifemsclves at Suckiang, or Hartford. Of these emigrants, 
those, who settled at Windsor, had purchased the right of settling 
there of the old l^lymouth company in England, and the soil of the 
Indians. About the same time lord Say and Seal, and his associ- 
ates sent over John Winthrop, son of the governor of Massachu- 
setts, with a commission as governor of Connecticut for one year, 
with instructions to erect u fort at the mouth of Connecticut river. 
He arrived at Boston in October 1635 and the next month sent a 
bark with twenty men to begin the fortificuticn, which they called 
Saybrook fort. A few days after their arrival a Dutch vessel, sent 
from New Netherlands to take possession of the country, appeared 
off the harbor ; but the English, having two pieces of cannon 
mounted, prevented their landii^.g. The commission of Mr. Win^ 
throp interfered with the planters of Massachusetts, but the latter 
were permitted qui'itly to enjoy their possessions. In the winter, 
as the vessels with provisions, which had been expected, had not ar- 
rived, a severe famine was expei'ienced. Most of the emigrants 
were obliged to descend the river, and set sail on their return to 
Boston. Those, who kept their station, subsisted on acorns, 
Tnalt, and grains ; and many of their cattle perished. The planters 
in Connecticut at first settled under the general government of 
Massachusetts, but the administration of their affairs was entirely 
in their own hands. The first court, v/^hich exercised all the pow- 
ers of government, wr.s held April 26, 1636 at Hartford, the planta- 



216 CON". 

tion between \Vindsor and Wethersfield. It consisted of two dele- 
gates from each of three towns, and several orders were passed for 
the benefit of the infant settlements. The courts were afterwards 
held in each town in rotation. 

In the year 1636 a large accession was made to the inhabitants on 
Connecticut river. The reverend Messrs. Hooker and Stone, the 
ministers of Newtown near Boston, with their whole church and 
congregation travelled in June through a trackless wildernes, driv- 
ing one hundred and sixty cattle and subsisting during the journey 
on the milk of the cows. They settled at Hartford, having purchas- 
ed the land of an Indian sachem. At the close of the year there 
were about eight hundred persons in the colony. The year 1637 
is distinguished by the war with the Pequots. Thi^ powerful tribe 
had looked with jealousy upon the settlements made in their neigh- 
borhood, and had murdered a number of the English. The dangers, 
which threatened the colony, rendering vigorous measures necessa- 
ry, it was determined to invade the Pequots, and carry the war in- 
to their territory. A body of troops was sent out in May under the 
command of John Mason, and on the twenty sixth of the month 
they attacked the entmy in one of their forts near New London, 
and killed five or six hundred of the Indians. Only two of the Eng- 
lish were killed, and sixteen wounded. The Pequots were entire- 
ly subdued, and the other Indians of New England were inspired 
with sucli terror, as roKtrained them from open hostilities for near 
forty years. The astonishing success of this war, which could be 
attributed only to the providence of God, called forth the most de- 
vout acknowledgments. 

In 1637 anew colony, was commenced in Connecticut. The 
reverend John Davenport, acco npanied by Theophilus Eaton and 
Edward Hopkins, and other respectable persons from London, arriv- 
ed in the summer at Boston, seeking the unmolested enjoyment of 
civil and religious liberty. Not finding a convenient place in Mas- 
sachusetts, and being informed of a large bay to the southwest of 
Connecticut river, commodious for trade, they applied to their 
friends in Connecticut to purchase for them of the native proprie- 
tors all the lands, lying between the rivers Connecticut and Hudson. 
This purchase was in part effected. In the autumn Mr. Eaton and 
some others of the company made a journey to Connecticut to ex- 
plore the lands and harbors on the sea coast, and pitched upon 
Quinnipiack, afterwards called New Haven for the place of their 
settlement. Here they erected a hut and remained through the 
v/inter. In the next spring, March 30, 1638, the rest of the com- 
pany went from Boston, and arrived at Quinnipiack in about a fort- 
night. On the ei^^htecnJi of April they kept the first sabbath in 
the place, and Mr. Davenport preached to them under a large 
spreading oak. They soon after entered into what they called a 
plantation rovonnnt.bv whv-h they solemnly engaged to be governed 



Con. 217 

in theif civil as well as religious concerns by the rules of scripture. 
On the twenty fourth ot November the lands of Quinnipiack were 
purchased of the sachem of that part of the country by a few pres- 
ents and an engagement to protect him and his Indians, he reserv- 
ing a sufficient quanty of land to plant on the east side of the har- 
bor. In December another purchase was made for thirteen coats 
of a large tract, lying principally north of the other, extending eight 
miles east of the river Quinnipiack and five niiles west, and being 
ten miles in breadth from the north to the south. Near the bay of 
Quinnipiack they laid out their town in squares on the plan of a 
spacious city, and called it New Haven. 

The foundation of two colonies was now laid, which were called 
the colonies of Connecticut and New Haven. The original consti- 
tution of the former was established by a convention of all the free 
planters of Windsor, Hartford, and Wethersfield, which met at 
Hartford January 14, 1639, and it has continued with little altera- 
tion to the present time. It was ordained, that there should be an- 
nually two general courts, or assemblies, in April and September, 
the first to be the court of election, in which six magistrates, at least, 
and all other public officers were to be chosen ; that a governor 
should be elected for one year, and until another should be appoint- 
ed ; that no one could be chosen to this office unless he had been a 
magistrate, and was a member of some church, nor more than once 
in two years ; that the choice of these officers should be made by 
ballot and by the whole body of freemen, convened in general elec- 
tion, every man to be considered as a freeman, who had been re- 
ceived as a member of any of the towns, and who had taken the oath 
of fidelity to the commonwealth ; that each of the three towns 
should send four deputies to the general court ; and that when there 
was an equal division, the governor should have a casting vote. 
Agreeably to this constitution the freemen convened at Hartford in 
April and established their officers for the ensuing year. John 
Haynes was chosen governor, and the general assembly proceeded 
gradually to enact a system of laws. 

The planters of Quinnipiack had continued more than a year with- 
out any other constitution than their plantation covenant. But on 
the fourth of June 1639 they convened to lay the foundation of 
their civil and religious polity. It was resolved, that the scriptures 
afford a perfect rule for the discharge of all duties, and that they 
would be governed by them ; that church members only should be 
free burgesses, and that they only should choose magistrates among 
themselves to manage their affairs ; and that twelve men should be 
chosen, who should elect seven to begin the church. Seven men 
were accordingly chosen in August, who were called the seven pil- 
lars. They met in court, October 25, and admitted into their body 
all the members of the churches. To this succeeded the election 
of officers. Theophilus Eaton was chosen governor, and with him 

99 



218 CON. 

vrere joined four mapjistrates. It was at the same time decreed^ 
that there should be a general court annually in October, at which 
all the officers ol" the colony should be chosen, and that the word of 
God should be the sole rule for vegubtin'^ the affairs of the com- 
monwealth. As the plantation enlarged, the general court receiv- 
ed a new form, and the civil polity of this jurisdiction gradually- 
approached to a near resemblance of the goveniment of Connecticut. 
The greatest dissimilarity subsisted in respect to juries, which were 
never used on trials in the colony of New Haven. 

These two colonies remained distinct until the year 1665, when 
they were united into one ; but though distinct in government, yet 
a union, rendered necessary by common danger, subsisted between 
them. The apprehension of hostilities from the Indians, and the 
actual encroachments and violence of the Dutch induced the colo- 
nies of New Haven, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Plymouth to 
adopt articles of confederation, which were signed at Boston May 
19, 1 643. By these articles it was agreed, that two commissioners 
from each of the united colonies of New England should meet an- 
nually ; that they should be vested with full powers for making war 
and peace, and establishing laws of a general concern, the agree- 
ment of six, however, being always necessary to render any meas- 
ure binding upon the whole ; and that fugitives from justice, and 
servants, who escaped from their masters, should on proper evidence 
of their character be delivered up to the colon v, which they had left. 
This union was of the highest importance to the colonies, particu- 
larly to Connecticut and New Haven, which were peculiarly expos- 
ed to hostilities from the Dutch. It subsisted more than forty year* 
until the abrogation of the charters of the New England colonies 
by king James II. In the year 1643 it was direded in the colony 
of New Haven, that each town should choose their own judges, 
•whose powers were restricted, and a court of magistrates was ap- 
pointed, which was to meet twice annually at New Haven, and to be 
composed of all the magistrates in the jurisdiction. To this court 
appeals were made from the plantation courts, and here the decision 
was final. It Avas decreed also, that there should be two general 
courts, or assemblies, consisting of the governor, deputy governor, 
magistrate's, and two deputies from each town, and that the election 
of officers should be annual. 

In consideration of the success and increase of the New England 
colonies the English parliament grantPtd them, March 10, 1643, an 
exemption from all customs, subsidies, and other duties until fur- 
ther orders. In 1644 the Connecticut adventurers purchased of the 
agent of lord Say and Seal, and lord Brook their right to the colony 
of Connecticut for sixteen hundred pounds. In 1647 an unhappy 
controversy commenced between Massachusetts and Connecticut 
resptcting an impost o^ two pence per bushel for com, and a penny 
on tlie pound for beaver, or twenty shillings upon every hogshead, 



CON. 219 

to be paid by the inhabitants of Springfield at the mouth of Connect* 
icut river for the support of the fort at Saybrook. The subject 
was referred to the commissioners of the united colonies, and when 
they had decided in favor of it in 1649, Massachusetts immediately 
in retaliation imposed a duty upon all goods, belonging to any of 
the inhabitants of Plymouth, Connecticut, or New Haven, imported 
within the castle, or exported from any part of the bay. A singu- 
lar law was about this time made in Connecticut respecting the use 
of tobacco. All persons, not accustomed to take it, and all persons 
under twenty years of age were prohibited from using it, unless they 
procured a certificate from a physician, that it would be useful, and 
obtained a license irom the court. Ail others, addicted to the use of 
it, were prohibited from taking it in any company, or at their labors, 
or in travelling unless ten miles from any company ; and not more 
than once in aday under the penalty of a fine of six pence lor every of- 
fence. The colonies of New Haven and Connecticut continued to 
increase, and new towns, purchased of the Indians, were constantly 
settled. In 1661 major John Mason, as agent for Connecticut, 
bought of the natives all lands, which had not before been purchas- 
ed by particular towns, and made a public surrender of them to 
the colony in the presence of the general assembly. A petition 
was now prepared to king Charles II for a charter, and John Win- 
throp, who had been chosen governor of Connecticut, was em- 
ployed to present it. His majesty issued his letters under the 
great seal, April 23, 1662, ordaining that there should be annually 
two general assemblies, consisting of the governor, the deputy 
governor, and twelve assistants, with two deputies from every town 
or city. This charter has ever since remained the basis of the 
government of Connecticut. It included the colony of New Ha- 
ven ; but that colony did not accept it. The boundaries were fixed, 
and on the west it extended across the continent to the south sea, 
or pacific ocean. In the year 1665, when apprehensions were en- 
tertained respecting the New England charters, the union of Con- 
necticut and New Haven was completed, and they have remained 
under one government ever since. At the time of the union they 
consisted of nineteen towns. This event had been delayed by a 
difference of views respecting the propositions of the synod of 
Cambridge in 1662. It was recommended, that the children of 
parents, not in full communion in the churches, should be baptized. 
To this measure New Haven was utterly opposed ; and as in this 
colony no person could be a freeman, unless he was a member of 
the church, which was not a requisite qualification in Connecticut, 
it was feared that a union would corrupt the purity of the ecclesi- 
astical body and have no good effect upon their civil affairs. At 
the general assembly in May 1665 counties were first made and 
county courts were first instituted by that name. In 1 670 an alter- 
ation was made in the mode of election, which had hitherto been by 



220 CON. 

the whole body of freemen. The freemen had now become bo 
numerous that they were allowed to complete the election of civil 
officers at Hartford by proxy, and a law was enacted, regulating 
elections, which is in substance very similar to the law, which now 
exists. The number of men in Connecticut in 1671, from sixteen 
to sixty years of age, was two thousand and fifty. In 1672 the 
union of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Plymouth was renewed, 
and the first code of Connecticut laws was published. The book was 
printed at Cambridge, having been compiled by Roger Ludlow, 
esquire. Every family was required to possess one. The Indian 
wars in 1675 and 1676 occasioned much suffering in the colony. 
In 1687, when Andros was governor of New England, an attempt 
was made to wrest the charter from Connecticut. A quo warranto 
against the governor and company had been issued two years be- 
fore, and in October of this year, when the assembly was sitting, 
Andfo^ went to Hartford with sixty regular troops, demanded the 
charter, and declared the government to be dissolved. The sub- 
ject was debated in the assembly until evening, when the charter 
was brought and laid upon the table ; but the lights being instantly 
extinguished, captain Wadsworth of Hartford seized it, and secreted 
it in the cavity of a large oak tree in front of the house of the 
honorable Samuel Wyllys, esquire. This tree, measuring twenty 
one feet in circumterence, is now standing. Sir Edmund Andros 
assumed the government, and the records of the colony were closed. 
He appointed all officers, civil and military. Notwithstanding the 
professions of regard to the public good, made by the tyrant, he 
soon began to infringe the rights of the people. The laws for the 
support of the clergy Avere suspended. Liberty, property, every 
thing dear to man becoming insecure, the progress of improve- 
ment A\as arrested, and as authority was in the hands of the Avicked, 
the people mourned. After the seizure of Andros by the daring 
friends of liberty in Massachusetts, the old magistrates of Connect- 
icut were induced again to accept the government, at the request 
of the freemen, May 9, 1689. In 1691 the old charter was re- 
sumed, being acknov/lcdged to be valid, as no judgment had been 
entered against it. The clergy were exempted from taxation in 
1706, and the Saybjook platform was adopted in 1708. In 171 1 a 
(iupepor court, to be held annually in the several counties, was 
established. The college, which had been incorporated at Say- 
brook in 1701, was in 1717 removed to New Haven, and in the fol- 
lowing year named Yale college. In 1750 the laws pf Connecti- 
cut were again revised and published in a small folio volume. 

The charter of this colony being supposed to extend the westciij 
boundary to the south sea, purchases were accordingly made in 
1754 pf the Indians of the Six Nations by a number of the in- 
fiabitants of Connecticut, called the Susquehannah and Delaware 
.floippaniesi of a large tract of land lying west of the Delaware 



coo. 221 

river, and thence spreading over the east and west branches of 
Susquehannah river, on which considerable settieii»ents were 
shortly after made. The settlers were incorporatea afterwards by 
the general assembly and annexed to the county of Litchfield. As 
the charter of Pennsylvania covered these settlements, a dispute 
arose, which was muintdined with warmth for some time, and was 
at length submitted to gentlemen, chosen lor the purpose, whose 
decision was in favor of Pennsylvania. At the close of the revo- 
lution Connecticut ceded all her charter claims west of Pennsylva- 
nia to congress, reserving only a tract of the width of the state of 
Connecticut, and one hundred and twenty miles in length, bounded 
north by lake Erie, containing near four millions of acres. This 
cession was accepted by congress, which establishes to Connecti- 
cut her title to these lands. The legislature of this state in 1793 
granted to the sufferers in the several towns, that were burned du- 
ring the war, a tract of half a million of acres on the west end of 
this reservation. The American revokuion, which so essentially 
affected the governments of most of the colonies, produced no 
very perceptible alteration in the government of Connecticut. 
While under the jurisdiction of Great Britain they elected their 
own governors, and all subordinate civil officers in the same manner, 
and with as little control, as at the present time. Connecticut has 
always been a republic, and perhaps as perfect and as happy a republic, 
as ever existed. Its system of laws, digested by Zephaniaii Swift, 
and published in 1796, is contained in an octavo volume. The 
Connecticut academy of arts and sciences was incoi*porated in 
\Q0\.— Trumbull's hist, of Connecticut ; Morse's geog. ; H, Adams* 
JV. England ; Morse and Parish's J^. England ; Rees' cyclofiadia^ 
Amer. edit. ; Holmes' annals ; Gordon^ i. 

COOKE (Elisha,) arespectable physician of Boston, was grad- 
uated at Harvard college in 1657. After having been an assistant 
under the old government, he v/as sent to England in ! 689 as an agent 
of Massachusetts to procure the restoration of the charter. He 
was decided in his opinion, that if the old charter could not be ob- 
tained, it would be better to meet the consequences, than to submit 
to a charter, which abridged the liberties of the people. When the 
new charter was procured in 169 1, he refused to accept it, and did 
what he could to prevent its acceptance in Massachusetts. The rev- 
erend Dr. Increase Mather, Avho was agent at the same time, pur- 
sued a different course, thinking it wise to submit to a necessary 
evil. Though he was not placed in the list of counsellors, nomina- 
ted by Dr. Mather in 1692, from apprehensions that he would op- 
pose the new charter ; yet in the following year he was elected in 
Massachusetts. He was, however, rejected by governor Phips, be- 
cause he had opposed his appointment in England. In 1 694 he was 
reelected, and continued in the coimcil till 1703, when governor 
Dudley negatived his election, as he did for a nuniber of years sue- 



222 COO. 

ccssively. In 1715 his choice was approved He died in this year 
on the thirty first ol October, aged seventy eight years. Though 
esteemed as a physician, he was most remarkable in his political 
character, having been more than forty years in places of public 
trust, and being uLvays hrm and steady to his principles. He mar- 
ried u daughter of governor heveteit.—Hutc/unsoii, i. 393, 408 } 
ii. ro, 136, 211. 

COOKE (Elisha), distinguished in the political history of Mas- 
sachusetts, was the son oi the preceding and was graduated at Har- 
vard college in 1697. He was a representative of Boston in the 
general court in 171 3, and was in favor of a private bank rather than 
of the bublic bank, the plan of which was adopted to lemedy the 
evils of the bills of credit. He was elected into the council in 1717, 
and immediately commenced his opposition to governor Shute, en- 
gaging on the popular side. This was the conmiencement of the 
dispute. The diffeienl parties became more hostile ; new subjects 
of controversy arose ; and Shute was at length obliged to leave the 
colony. Mr. IJcoke was elected a counsellor in 1718, but the gov- 
emor in a manner not very civil informed him, that his attendance 
at the board would be excused. In 1720 he was chosen speaker of 
the house of representatives ; but the governor negatived the choice, 
and as the house refused to make a new election, contesting his 
right to control them, he dissolved the assembly. At the next ses- 
sion a different person was elected, not because the pretension of 
Shute was admitted, but that there might be no oostruction to the 
progress of the regular business of the court. In 1723 he was ap- 
pointed agent for Massachusetts and sailed for London in January. 
Soon after his return he was chosen in May 1726 a member of the 
council. On the accession of governor Belcher, he was appointed 
in 1730 a justice of tlie common pleas for Suffolk. He had hitherto 
retained the attachment of the people by endeavoring to support 
their liberties, but being desirous of securing his interest both with 
the governor and the town of Boston, a jealousy was excited, and he 
was in danger ot losing the regard of both parties. In 1733 or 
1734 he was elected representative by a majority of only one or two 
votes in six or •seven hundred. He died in August 1737, worn out 
with his labors, having been many yeaisthe head of the popular 
party. He published political tracts. — //?<i'cAf/2«on,ii. 22 1,233, 302, 
348, 391 ; CoHrrt. hht.f^uc. iii. 300. 

COOKE (Samuel), first minister of the second parish in Cam- 
bridge, was graduated at H.irvard college in 1735, and was ordained 
September 12, 1739. He died June 4, 1783, in the seventy fifth 
year of his age, and the forty fourth of his ministry, and was suc- 
ceeded by the reverend Mr. Fiske. He was a man ol science, of a 
social disposition, distinguished by his t;ood sense and piudcnccjand 
a faithful servant o! the Lord Jesus He published a sermon at the 
ordination of the reverend Cotton Brown, 1748 ; at (he ordination 



coo. 223 

af the reverend William Symmes, 1759 ; the election sermon, 
1770 ; a sermon for a memorial of the battle at Lexington, 1777. 
^-.Collections of the historical society^ vii. 33. 

COOPER (William), minister in Boston, was a native of that 
town, and being early impressed by the truths of religion and 
delighting in the study of the scriptures, ne passed through the 
temptations of youth without a blemish upon his chai-acter. He 
was grave, but not gloomy nor austere ; discreet, but not precise ; 
and cheerful, with innocence. While a member of Harvard col- 
lege, where he was graduated in 1712, he ardently cultivated those 
branches of science, which were most useful and important. Every 
literary pursuit was sanctified by prayer, and every human acquisi- 
tion rendered subservient to the knowledge of God and religion. 
Soon after he began to preach, the eminence of his qualifications as 
a minister attracted the attention of the church in Brattle street, 
Boston, and he was invited to be colleague pastor with the reverend 
Mr. Colman. At his own request his ordination was delayed for a 
year, until May 23, 1716, when he was inducted into the sacred of- 
fice. From this period to that of his death his ministerial gifts, 
graces, and usefulness seemed constantly to increase, and the more 
he was knoMTi, the more he was esteemed, loved, and honored. 
In the year 1737 he was chosen president of Harvard college, but 
he declined the honorable trust. He died December 13, 1743, in 
the fiftieth year of his age. 

He was an eminent preacher, being an able and zealous advocate 
of the distinguishing doctrines of the gospel. Jesus Christ was 
ever the prominent object in his discourses. He insisted much on 
the doctrines of grace ; considering them as not only constituting 
the sole foundation of a sinner's hope, but as exhibiting the capital 
aids and incentives to holiness of heartand life. Hence his preach- 
ing was practical as well as evangelical. He inculcated obedience 
upon christian principles and by christian arguments. His sermons 
were easy and natural in method ,- rich in important truth ; plain, 
but not grovelling in style ; solid and argumentative, yet animated 
with the spirit of devotion ; calculated at once to enlighten the 
mind, to impress the conscience, and to warm the heart. In ex- 
plaining the profound and sublime truths of the gospel he had the 
singular felicity to be intelligible to the ignorant, instructive to the 
well informed, and edifying to the serious. In prayer he remarka- 
bly excelled. He had a voice at once strong and pleasant, an elo- 
cution grave and dignified ; while a deep impression of God, whose 
mercy he implored, and whose messages he delivered, was visible 
in his countenance and demeanor, and added an indescribable so- 
lemnity to all his performances. His benevolent labors were not 
in vain. He was an eminent instrument and promoter of the great 
revival of religion, which took place toward the close of his life. 
With a heart overflowing with joy he declared, that " since the 



224 COO. 

year 1740 more people had sometimes comfe to him in concern 
about their souls in one week, than in the preceding twenty four 
years of nis ministry." To these applicants he was a most judi- 
cious and affectionate counsellor and guide. Though the general 
attention to the things of another world was pronounced by many to 
be enthusiasm and fanaticism, yet Mr. Cooper, while he withstood 
the irregularities, which prevailed, was persuaded, that there was a 
remarkable work of divine grace. The numerous instances in his 
own parish of persons affected cither with pungent and distressing 
convictions of sin, with deep humiliation and self abhorrence, with 
ardent love to God and man, or with inexpressible consolation in 
religion perfectly satisfied him, that the presence and power of the 
divine Reprover, Sanctifier, and Comforter was among them. In 
the private walks of life he displayed the combined excellencies of 
the gentleman and christian. He had but little wariiing of the ap- 
proach of death, but in the lucid intervals of his disease, he was 
enabled to declare, that he rejoiced in God his Savior. 

He published a sermon on the incomprehensibleness of God, 
1714 ; how and why young people should cleanse their Avay, 1716 ; 
a sermon to young people. 1723 ; a funeral sermon on John Corey, 
1726 ; a discourse on early piety, 1728 ; a discourse on the reality, 
extremity, and absolute certainty of hell torments, 1732 ; on the 
death of lieutenant governor Tailer, 1732 ; a sermon at the ordina- 
tion of Robert Breck, 1736 ; concio hyemalis, or a winter sermon, 
1737 ; on the death of the reverend Peter Thacher, 1739 ; the doc- 
trine of predestination unto life explained and vindicated in four 
sermons, 1740, which were republished in 18'M ; a preface to Ed- 
ward's sermon on the trial of the spirits, J 74 1 ; two sermons preach^ 
ed at Portsmouth in the time of the revival, 1741. — Colmcai'a func' 
ral sermon ; Paiiofiliat^ ii. 5 37 — 540 ; CoUpct. hiKt. soc. x. 157. 

COOPER (Samuel), rniiiister in Boston, was the son of the rev- 
erend William Cooper, and was born March 28, 1725. He exhib- 
ited early marl:s of a masterly genius. As his mind was deeply 
impressed by religious truth, soon after he was graduated at Har- 
vard college in 1743, he devoted himself to the study of divinity^ 
preferring the office of a minister of the gospel to the temporal ad- 
vantages, which his talents might have procured him. When he 
first appeared in the pulpit, his performances were so acceptable, 
and raised such expectations that at the age of twenty years he was 
invited by the congregation in Brattle street, Boston, to succeed his 
father as colleague with the reverend Dr. Colman. In this office 
he was ordained May 2 1 , 1746, just thirty years after the ordination 
of his father. He did not disappoint the hopes of his friends. His 
reputation increased, and he soon became one of the most popular 
preachers in the country. After a ministry of near thirty seven 
years, he died December 29, 1783, in the fifty ninth year of his 
age. 



coo. 225 

Dr. Cooper was very distinguished in the sacred office, which h6 
sustained. His sermons were evangelical and perspicuous, and un- 
equalled in America for elegance and taste. Delivering them with 
energy and pathos, his eloquence arrested attention and warmed the 
heart. In his prayers, which were uttered with humility and rev- 
erence, there was a grateful variety, and as they Were pertinent, 
scriptural, and animated with the spirit of devotion, they were ad- 
mirably calculated to raise the souls of his fellow worshippers to 
God. His presence in the chambers of the sick was peculiarly ac- 
ceptable, for he knew how to address the conscience without oifence, 
to impart instruction, to soothe, and to comfort. His religious sen- 
timents were rational and catholic. His attention was not confined 
to theology ; but he made himself acquainted with other branches 
of science, and was one of the most finished classical scholars of his 
day. His friendship to literature induced him, after the destruction 
of the library of Harvard college by fire, to exert himself to procure 
subscriptions to repair the loss. In 1767 he was elected a member 
of the corporation, in which office he continued until his death. 
He was an active member of the society for propagating the gospel 
among the aborigines of America. To his other acquisitions he 
added a just knowledge of the nature and design of government, and 
the rights of mankind. Most sincerely attached to the cause of civil 
and religious liberty, he was among the first of those patriots, who 
took a decided part in opposition to the arbitrary exactions of Great 
Britain. In his intercourse with his fellow citizens, and by his pen 
he endeavored to arouse and strengtTien the spirit of resistance. 
Such were his abilities and firmness, that he was esteemed and con- 
sulted by some of the principal men, who were the means of effect- 
ing our revolution. He did much towards procuring foreign alli- 
ances. His letters were read with great satisfaction in the court of 
Versailles, while men of the most distinguished characters in Eu- 
rope became his correspondents. The friendship, which he main- 
tained with Dr. Franklin and Mr. Adams, was the means of intro- 
ducing to his acquaintance many gentlemen from France, to whom 
he rendered himself peculiarly agreeable by his literary attainments, 
by an engaging address, and by the ease and politeness of his man- 
ners. When his country had asserted her right to independence, 
believing that knowledge is necessary to the support of a free govern- 
ment, he was anxious to render our lil.ierties perpetual by pi'omot- 
ing literary establishments. He was therefore one of the foremost 
in laying the foundation of the American academy of arts and scienc- 
es, and was chosen its first vice president in the year 1780. In 
his last illness he expressed his great satisfaction in seeing- his 
country in peace, and in the possession nf freedo^n and independ- 
ence, and his hopes, that the virtue and public spirit of his country- 
men would prove to the world, that they were not unworthy of these 
inestimable blessings. In the intervals of reason, he informed his 
30 



2i2G COO. 

friends, that he was perfectly resigned to the will of heaven ; that 
his hopes and consoiations sprang from a belief of those truthS| 
which he had preached to others ; and that he wished not to be de- 
tained any longer from that state of perfection and felicity, which 
the gospel had opened to his view. 

Besides his poliiical writings, which appeared in the journals of 
the day, he published the following discourses > on the artillery 
election, 175 1 ; before the society for encouraging industry, 1753 ; 
at the general election, 1756 ; on the reduction of Quebec, 1753 j 
at the ordination of the reverend Joseph Jackson, 1760 ; on the 
death of George II, 1761 ; ut the Dudleian lecture in Harvard col- 
lege, 1775 ; on the commencement oi the new constitution of Miis- 
sachusetts, Oclober 25, 1780. This last discourse, with others of 
his productions, have been published in several languages, and being 
written in a polished and elegant manner were well calculated for 
the lips of an eloquent speaker, such as he himself was.— C/arX:e'« 
fun. sermon ; American herald^ January 1 9,1784 ; Continental jour ' 
naif Jan. 22 ; Holmes^ annals, ii. 469 ; Thachcr^s century discourse. 
COOPER (Myles, i>. d.), president of King's coHege, New 
York, was educated in the university of Oxford, where he took the 
degree of master of arts in 1760. He arrived at New York in the 
autumn of 1762, being recommended by the archbishop of Canter- 
bury as a person well qualified to assist in the management of the 
college, and in a few years to succeed the president. He was re- 
ceived by the reverend Dr. Johnson with the affection of a father, 
and was immediately appointed professor of moral philosophy. Af- 
ter the resignation of Dr. Johnson in February 1763, he was chosen 
president previously to the commencement in May. It was not 
long before Dr. Clossey, a gentleman, who had been educated in 
Trinity college, Dublin, and had taken the degree of doctor of phys- 
ic, was appointed professor of natural philosophy. A grammar 
school was also established and connected with the college, under 
the care of Mr. Cushing from lioston. The classes were now 
taught by Mr. Cooper, Mr. Harper, and Dr. Clossey ; and under 
such able instructers they had peculiar advantages. In the year 
1775 Dr. Cooper, as his politics leaned towards the British, was re- 
duced to the necessity of withdrawing from the college, and ixturn- 
ing to England. He was afterwards one of the ministeis of the 
episcopal chapel of Edinburgh, in which city he died May 1, 1785, 
aged about fifty years. After the revolution William Samuel 
Johnson, son of Dr. Johnson, was president of the college. 

Dr. Cooper, though he had long expected death, waiting patiently 
for its approach, yet died in rather a sudden manner. The follow- 
ing epitaph was written by himself. 

Here lies a priest of English blood, 
Who, living, lik'd whate'er was good ; 
Good company, good wine, good name, 



COR. 227 

Yet never hunted after fame ; 

But as the first he still preferr'd, 

So here he chose to be interr'd, 

And, unobscur'd, irom crowds withdrew 

To rest among a chosen few, 

In humble hopes, that sovereign love 

Will raise him to be bless'd above. 
He published a volume of poems in 1758, and a sermon on civil 
government, preached before the university of Oxford on a fast, 
1777. While in this country he maintained a literary character of 
considerable eminence. He wrote on the subject of an American 
episcopate, and sometimes used his pen on political subjects. It 
is said, he narrowly escaped the fury of the whigs.— .JVVw and gen. 
biog, diet. ; Millerfii. 369 ; Pennsylvania packet^ July 29, 1785 ; 
Chandler* s life of Johnson, 106 — 109. 

CORLET (Elijah), an eminent instructor, commenced his la- 
bors at Cambridge not long after the first settlement of the town. 
He was master of the grammar school between forty and fifty years, 
and many of the most worthy men in the country enjoyed the ben- 
efit of his instructions previously to their entrance into college.. 
The society for propagating the gospel compensated him for his at- 
tention to the Indian scholars, who were designed for the university. 
He died in 1687 in the seventy seventh year of his age. He was a 
man of learning, piety, and respectability. Mr. Walter published 
an elegy on his death in blank verse. He wrote a Latin epitaph on 
the reverend Mr. Hooker, which is inserted in Mather's magnalia. 
— Collect, hist. soc. i. 243 ; vii. 22 ; life of Walter ; Mather's 
magnalia, iii. 68. 

CORNBURY ( lord), governor of New York, was the son 

of the earl of Clarendon, and being one of the first officers, who de- 
serted the army of king James, king William, in gratitude for his 
services, appointed him to an American government. Hunted out 
of England by a host of hungry creditors, bent upon accumulating 
as much wealth, as he could squeeze from the purses of an impov- 
erished people, and animated with unequalled zeal for the church, 
he commenced his administration, as successor of lord Bellamont, 
May 3, 1702. His sense of justice was as weak as his bigotry was 
uncontrollable. The following act of outrage will exhibit his char- 
acter. A great sickness, which was probably the yellow fever, pre- 
vailing in New York in 1703, lord Cornbury retired to Jamaica, on 
Long Island ; and as Mr. Hubbard, the presbyterian minister, lived 
in the best house in the town, his lordship requested the use of it 
during his short residence there. Mr. Hubbard put himself to 
great inconvenience to oblige the governor, and the governor in re- 
turn delivered the parsonage house into the hands of the episcopal 
party, and seized upon the glebe. In the year 1707 he ipiprisoned 
"without law two presbyterian ministers for presuming to preach in 



228 COl, 

New York without his license. They were sei^t out by some dis- 
senters in London as itinerant preachers for the benefit of the niitl- 
clle and southern colonies. He had a conference with them, and 
made himself coiispicuous as a savage bigot, and as an ungentleman- 
ly tyrant. The cries of the oppressed reaching the ears of the 
queen in 1708, she appointed lord Lovelace governor in his stead. 
As soon as Cornbury was superseded, his creditors threw him into 
the custody of the sheriff of New York ; but after the death pf his 
father he was permitted to return to England, and succeeded tQ the 
«aridoip of Clarendon. Never was there a governor of New York 
so universally detested, or so deserving of abhorrence. His behav- 
ior was trifling, mean, and extravagant. It was not uncommon foi 
him to dress himselt in a woman's habit, and then to patrol the 
fort, in which he resided. By such freaks he drew upon himself 
universal contempt ; while his despotism, bigotry, injustice, and 
insatiable avarice aroused the indignation of tfie people. — -Sniit/i'N 
JVew York, 101 — 116 ; Hutchinson, ii. 123 ; Mars/mil, i. 272. 

COTTON (John), one of the most distinguished of the earlj 
ministers of New England, was born in Derby, England, Depem- 
her 4, 1585. At the age of thirteen he was admitted a member of 
Trinity college, Cambridge, and afterwards removed to Emanuel 
college, where he obtained a fellowship. Previously to this ap- 
pointment, he passed an examination, and his knowledge of He- 
b^-ew was tested by the third chapter of Isaiah, which is a very 
difficult passage ; but he was master of it. He was soon chosen 
the head lecturer in the college, being ^Iso employed as tutor to 
many scholars, who afterwards became distinguished. For this 
office he was peculiarly well qualified, as his knowledge was exten- 
sive, his manners gentle and accommodating, and he possessed an 
uncommon ease and facility in communicating his ideas. His oc- 
casional orations and discourses were so accurate and elegant, and 
displayed such invention and taste, that he acquired a high reputa- 
tion in the university. Hitherto he had been seeking the gr^itifigation 
of a literary taste, or yielding to the claims of amuition ; but £^t 
length a complete change in his character, which he attributed to 
the grace of God, induced him to engage with earnestness in the 
pursuit of new and more exalted objects. While a member of the 
college his conscience had been impressed by the faithful preaching 
of Mr. William Perkins ; but he resisted the convictions, which 
had been fastened upon him, and such was his enmity to the truths, 
which had disturbed his peace, that when he heard the bell toll for 
the funeral of that eminent servant of God, it was a joyful sound to 
him. It announced his release from a ministry, hostile to his. self 
righteous and unhumbled spirit. It was not long liowever before 
jic was again awakened from his security by a sermon of Dr. Sibs 
on the misery of those, who had no righteousness except the moral 
yjjrtycs. A(t?r ?i dii^U^ssing ^nxipty of three years it pleased God 



COT. 229 

to give him joy iu believing. He was soon called upon to preach 
again in his turn before the university, and more anxious to do good 
than to attract applause, he did not array his discourse in the orna- 
ments of languagCi but preached with plainness and pungency upon 
the duty of repentance. The vain wits of the university, disap- 
pointed in their expectations of a splendid liarangue, and reproved 
by the fidelity of him, who was now a christian minister, did not 
hum their applauses as usual, and one of them, Mr. Preston, who 
afterwards became famous in the religious world, received such 
deep impressions upon his mind as were never effaced. Such was 
the collegial life of Mr. Cotton. 

About the year 1612, when in the twenty eighth year of his age> 
he became the minister of Boston in Lincolnshire. Soon after his 
establishment in this place, the zeal of a physician in the town in 
prompting Arminian sentiments induced him to dwell much and 
principally for some time upon what he believed to be the truths of 
scripture, upon the doctrine of God's eternal election before all fore- 
sight of good or evil, and the redemption only of the elect ; upon 
the effectual influence of the Holy Spirit in the conversion of the 
sinner, without any regard to the previous exertions of free will ; 
and upon the certain perseverance of every true believer. Such 
was his success, that he soon silenced his antagonist, and afterwards 
the doctrine ot predestination was not brought into controversy. 
He soon entertained doubts respecting the lawfulness of complying 
with some of the ceremonies of the church, and was subjected to 
inconveniences on this account ; but as his people coincided with 
him in his sentiments he kept his place for twenty years, and was 
during this time remarkably useful not only by the effect of his 
faithful preaching, but as an instructer of young men, who were de- 
signed for the ministry, some of whom were from Germany and 
Holland. His labors were immense, for in addition to his other 
avocations he generally preached four lectures in the course of a 
week. His benevolent exertions were not in vain. It pleased God, 
that a general reformation should take place in the town. The 
voice of profaneness was no longer heard, and the infinitely import- 
ant truths of the gospel arrested the attention of almost all the in- 
habitants. He was much admired, and much applauded, but he ev- 
er remained humble. At length, after the government of the Eng- 
lish church fell into the hands of bishop Laud, divisions arose 
among the parishioners of Mr. Cotton ; a dissolute fellow, who had 
been punished for his immoralities, informed against the magistrates 
and the minister for not kneeling at the sacrament ; and Mr. Cot- 
ton, being cited before the high commission court, was obliged to 
flee. After being concealed for some time in London, he embarked 
for this country, anxious to secure to himself the peaceable enjoy- 
meixt of the rights of conscience, though in a wilderness. He sailed 
in th^ sawe vessel with Mr. Hooker and Mr. Stone, and tbecircum- 



230 COT. 

stance of their names caused the people to say on their arrival, Sep- 
tember 4, 1633, that their three great necessities would be now 
supplied, for they had Cotton for their clothing, Hooker for their 
fishing, and Stone for their building. This was an age of conceits. 
During the voyage three sermons or expositions were delivered al- 
most every day, and Mr. Cotton was blessed in the birth of his eld- 
est son, whom, at his baptism in Boston, he called Seaborn. 

On the tenth of October 1633 he was established teacher of the 
church in Boston, as colleague with the reverend Mr. Wilson, who 
was pastor. He was set apart to this office, on a day oi fasting, by 
imposition of the hands of Mr. Wilson, and his two elders. He 
remained in this town, connected with this church, more than nine- 
teen years, and such was his influence in establisliing the order of 
our churches, and so extensive was his usefulness, that he has been 
called the patriarch of New England. The prevalence of those 
erroneous doctrmes, which occasioned the synod of 1637, so much 
disturbed his peace, that he was almost induced to remove to New 
Haven. Mrs. Hutchinson endeavored to promote her wild senti- 
ments by shielding them under the name of Mr. Cotton ; but 
tlrough he was imposed upon for some time by the artifices of those 
of her party, yet when he discovered their real opinions, he was bold 
and decided in his opposition to them. Though he did not sign the 
result of the synod of 1637, on account of his difTering from it in 
one or two points ; he yet approved of it in general, and his peace- 
able intercourse with his brethren in ihe ministry was not afterwards 
interrupted on account of his supposed errors. In 1 742 he was in- 
vited to England with Mr. Hooker and Mr. Davenport to assist in 
the assembly of divines at Westminster, and he was in favor of ac- 
cepting the invitation, but Mr. Hooker was opposed to it, as he was 
at that time forming a system of church government for New Eng- 
land. His death, which was occasioned by an inflammation of the 
lungs, brought on by exposure in crossing the ferry to Cambridge, 
where he went to preach, took place December 23, 1652, when he 
was sixty seven years of age. So universally was he venerated, that 
many sermons were preached on liis decease in different parts of 
the country 

Mr. Cotton sustained a high reputation for learning. He was a 
critic in Greek, and with Hebrew he was so well acquainted, that he 
could discourse in it. He also wrote Latin with cleg mce, as a 
specimen of which his prcftice to Norton's answer to the inquiries 
of Apollonius has often liecn mentioned. In the pulpit he impress- 
ed his hearers with admiration. Uniting to conspicuous talents 
and a profound judgment the candor and mildness, enjoined in the 
gospel, and the warmth of pious feeling, his instructions did not 
meet the resistance, which is often experienced, but fell with the 
gentleness of the dew, and insinuated themselves imperceptibly in- 
to the mind. His labors, soon after he came to Boston, were more 



COT. 231 

effectual^ than those of any of the ministers in the country ; he was 
the means of exciting great aitention to religious subjects ; and 
some of the most profligate were brought to renounce their iniqui- 
ties, and to engage in a course of conduct more honorable and 
more satisfactory, and which would terminate in everlasting felicity. 
His discourses were generally written with the greatest attention, 
though he sometimes preached without any preparation. His in- 
timate and accurate knowledge of the scriptures, and the extent of 
his learning enabled him to do this without difficulty. His written 
sermons, which he had composed with care, were yet remarkable 
for their simplicity and plainness, for he was desirous, that all should 
understand him, and less anxious to acquire fame, than to do good. 
His voice was not loud, but it was sq clear and distinct, that it was 
heard with ease by the largest auditory ; and his utterance was ac- 
companied by a natural and becoming motion of his right hand. 
The Lord was in the still, small voice. He pi'eached with such life, 
dignity, and majesty, that Mr. Wilson said, one almost thinks, th*t 
he hears the very prophet speak, upon whose words he is dwelling. 
His library was large, and he had well studied the fathers and school- 
men, but he preferred Calvin to them all. Being asked in the 
latter part of his life, why he indulged in nocturnal studies, he an- 
swered, that he loved to sweeten his mouth with a piece of Calvin 
before he went to sleep. Twelve hours in a day were generally oc- 
cupied by his studies, and such was his zeal in theological pursuits, 
that he frequently lamented the useless visits, with which he was op- 
pressed, though he was incapable of incivility to persons, who thus 
obtruded upon him. He gave himself chiefly to reading and prepar- 
ation for the duties of public instruction, depending much on the rul- 
ing elders for intelligence respecting his flock. He was an excel- 
lent casuist, and besides resolving many cases, which were brought 
him, he was also deeply though not violently engaged in controver- 
sies respecting church government. In his controversy with Mr. 
Williams he found an antagonist, whose weapons were powerful and 
whose cause was good, and he unhappily advocated a cause, which 
he had once opposed, when suffering persecution in England. He 
contended for the interference of the civil power in support of the 
truth, and to the objection of Mr, Williams, that this was infringing 
the rights of conscience, the only rejply, that could be made, was, 
that when a person, after repeatecT admonitions, persisted in reject- 
ing and opposing fundamental points of doctrine or worship, it could 
not be fromi conscience, but against conscience, and therefore, that 
it was not persecution for cause of conscience for the civil power to 
drive such persons away, but it was a wise regard to the good of the 
church, it was putting away evil from the people. 

To his intellectual powers and improvements, he added the virtues, 
which render the christian character amiable and interesting. 
Even Mr. Williams, his great antagonist, with very extraordinary 



232 car. 

candor speaks of him witli esteem and respect, commending; him 
for his goodness and for his attachment to so many of tlie truths of 
the gospel. He was modest, humble, gentle, peaceable, patient, 
and forbearing. Sometimes he almost lamented, that he carried 
his meekness to such an extent. " Angry men," said he, " ha\'e 
an advantage over me ; the people will not oppose them, for they 
Wiir rage ; but some are encouraged to do me injury, because they 
know I shaH not be atigry with them again." It will not be quest- 
ioned however, that his temper contributed xwom to his peace, 
and enjoyment, and usefulness, than a temper of a different descrip- 
tion would have done. When he was once told, that his preaching; 
was very dark and comfortless, he replied, " let me have your 
prayers, brother, that it may be otherwise." Having observed to a 
person, who boasted of his knowledge of the book of revelation, 
that he wanted light in those mysteries, the man went home and 
sent him a povmd of candles ; which insolence only excited a smile. 
" Mr. Cotton," says Dr. Mather, " woald not set the beacon of his 
great soul on fire at the landing of such a little cock boat." A 
drunken fellow, to make merriment for his companions, approached 
him in the street, and whispered in his ear, " thou art an old fool." 
Mr. Cotton replied, " I confess I am so ; the Lord make both me 
and thee wiser than we are, even wise to salvation." Though he 
asserted the right of the civil power to pnnish heretics, he yet had 
a great aversion to engaging in any civil affairs, and with reluctance 
yielded his attention to any concern, not immediately connected 
with his holy calling. In his family he was very careful to impart 
Instruction, and wisely and calmly to exercise his authority in re- 
straining vice. He read a chapter in the bible, with an exposition, 
before and after which he made a prayer, remembering however to 
avoid a tedious prolixity. He observed the sabbath from evening 
to evening, and by him this practice Was rendered general in New 
England. On Saturday evening, after expoimding the scriptures, 
he catechised his children and servants, prayed with them, and 
simg a psalm. On the sabbath evening the sermons of the day 
were repeated, and after singing, with uplifted hands and eyes he 
uttered the doxology, " blessed be God in Christ our Savior." In 
his study he prayed much. He would rarely engage in any theo- 
logical research, or sit down to prosecute his studies without first 
imploring the divine blessing. He kept many days of private 
fasting and thanksgiving. While he was thus distinguished for his 
piety, he was also kind and benevolent. He knew, that the efficacy 
of religious principles must be evinced by good works, and he was 
therefore hospitable and charitable. The stranger and the needy 
were ever welcomed to bistable. Such was his beneficence, that 
wlien Mr. White was driven with his church from Bermuda into 
the American wilderness, he collected seven hundred pounds for 
their relief, towards which he himself contributed very liberally. 
Two hundred pounds were given by the church in Boston. 



COT. 233 

Afte* a life oi eminent sanctity and usefulness, he iiras not left 
destitute of support in his dying moments. In his sickness presi- 
dernt Dunster went to see him, and with tears begged his blessing, 
saying, " I know in my heart, that he, whom you bless, shall be 
blessed." He sent for the elders of the church, and exhorted them 
to guard against declensions, expressing to them the pleasure, 
which he had found in the service of the Lord Jesus Christ. After 
he had addressed his children, he desired to be left alone, that his 
thoughts might be occupied by heavenly things without interrup- 
tion ; and thus he died in peace. He was of a clear, fair complex- 
ion, and like David of a ruddy countenance. His stature was rather 
short, than tall. In early life his hair was brown, but in his latter 
liays it was white as the driven snow. In his countenance there was 
an inexpressible majesty, which commanded reverence from every 
one, not hardened against good impressions, who approached him. 
In an epitaph on Mr. Cotton by Mr. Woodbridge are the following 
lines, which probably led Dr. Franklin to write the famous epitaph 
on himself. 

A living, breathing bible ; tables wherfc 

Both covenants at large engraven were ; 

Gosp6l and law in 's heart had each its column, 

His head an index to the sacred volume ; 

His very name a title page ; and next 

His life a commentary on the text. 

O, what a monument of glorious worth, 

When in a new edition he comes forth ? 

Without errata may we think he'll be 

In leaves and covers of eternity ! 
Me left two sons, who were ministers of Hampton and of Plym- 
outh. His youngest daughter married Dr. Increase Mather. 

Mr. Cotton's publications were numerous ; tiie ttiost celebrated 
are the works, which he published in the controversy with Mr. 
Williams, and his power of the keys, on the subject of church gov- 
ernment. In this work he contends, that the constituent members 
of a church are elders and brethren ; that the elders are entrusted 
with government, so that without them there can be no elections, 
admissions, or excommunications ; that they have a negative upon 
the abts of the fraternity, yet that the brethren have so much liberty, 
that nothing of common concernment can be imposed upon them 
without their consent. He asserts the necessary communion of 
churches in synods, who have authority to enjoin such things, as 
may rectify disorders, dissensions, and confusions of congregations, 
and upon an obstinate refusal to comply may withdraw communion. 
The following is a catalogue of his writings ; God's promise to hii> 
plantation, a Sermon, 1634 ; a letter in ansv/er to objections made 
against the New England churches, with the questions pi'opOsed to 
such, as are adtmitted to church fello-^rshin.. 1641 ; the wav of life, 
31 



234 COT. 

4to ; God's mercy mixed with his justice ; an abstract of the \avr.s 
of New England, 164 1, and a second edition in 165 5 ; this abstract 
of such laws oi the Jews, as were supposed to be of perpetual obli- 
gation, was drawn up in 1636, when Vane was governor, though it 
was never accepted, and is preserved in the fifth volume of the his- 
torical collections ; the church's resurrection, on the fifth and sixth 
verses of Revelation xx, 1642 ; a modest and clear answer to Mr. 
Ball's discourse on set forms of prater, 4to ; exposition of Revela- 
tion xvi ; the true constitution of a particular, visible church, 1643 ; 
the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and power thereof, 4to, 1644 , 
the doctrine of the church, to which is com^aitted the keys of the 
kingdom of heaven ; the covenant of God's free grace most sweet- 
ly unfolded, to which is added a protession of faith by the reverend 
Mr. Davenport, 1645 ; the way of the churches of Christ in New 
England, or the way of churches walking in brotherly equality Sec. 
4 to ; this was published from an imperfect copy, and represents 
Mr. Cotton as less friendly to the authority of the elders, than he 
really was ; the pouring out of the seven vials, 4to ; the controver- 
sy concerning liberty of conscience truly stated, 1646 ; a treatise 
shewing, that singing of psalms is a gospel ordinance, 1647 ; the 
grounds and ends of the baptism of the children of the faithful, 1647 ; 
a letter to Mr. Williams 4to ; the bloody tenet washed and made 
white in the blood of the lamb, being discussed and discharged of 
blood guiltiness by just defence, in answer to Mr. Williams, to 
which is added a reply to Mr. Williams' answer to Mr. Cotton's 
lelfer, 1647 ; questions propounded to him by the teaching elders, 
with his answer to each question j the way of congregational church- 
es cleared in two treatises, against Mr. Baylie and Mr. Rutherford, 
1648 ; of the holiness of church members, proving, that visible 
saints are the matter of the church, 1650 ; a brief exposition of ec- 
clesiastes, 1 654 ; his censure upon the way of Mr. Henden of Kent» 
1656 ; sermons on the first epistle of John, folio ; a discourse on 
things indifferent, proving, that no church governors hare power to 
impose indifferent things upon the consciences of men ; exposition 
of Canticles, 8vo ; milk for babes, a catechism ; meat far strong 
men. — jYorton's and Mather's life of Cotton ; Mather's magnolia, iii. 
14 — 31 ; jVeal's A.£ng. i. 305 — .307 ; Coll. hist. soc. v. 171 ; ix.4l 
— 44 ; Hutchinson, i. 34, 55 — 75, 115, 179 ; Winthrofi, 52 — 153. 

COTTON (Se.vborn), minister of Hampton, New Hampshire, 
was the son of the preceding, and was born at sea in August 1633, 
while his parents were on their voyage to New England. His name 
is put Marigcna in the catalogue of Harvard college, where he was 
graduated in 1651. He was ordained at Hampton in 1660 as suc- 
cessor of Mr. Wheelwright, and died in 1686 aged fifty three years. 
He was succeeded by his son. During governor Cranfield's ad- 
ministration the reverend' Mr. Moody was imprisoned for refusing 
to administer the sacrament to him. The next week the govcrnoi 



COT. 235 

sent word to Mr Cotton, that " when he had prepared his soul, he 
would come and demand the sacrament of him, as he had done at 
Portsmouth." This threat induced Mr. Cotton to withdraw for 
some time to Boston. He was esteemed a thorough scholar, and 
an able preacher. The heresies of his name sake Pelagius, which 
had been revived in the world, he regarded with abhorrence. — Mag- 
nalioy iii, 20, 31 ; Belkna^i's JV. Hampshire, i. 208 ; iii. 302. 

COTTON (John), minister of Plymouth, Massachusetts, and of 
Charleston, South Carolina, was the son of the reverend John Cot- 
ton of Boston, and was born about the year 1638. He was educat- 
ed at Harvard college, where he received the degree of bachelor of 
arts in 1657. From the year 1664 to 1667 he preached on Mar- 
tha's Vineyard to a congregation of white people, and also to the 
Indians, having acquired a good knowledge of their language ; and 
thus he afforded great assistance to Thomas Mayhew, esquire, who 
was laboring to make the heathen acquainted with the glad tidings 
of salvation. In November 1667 he removed to Plymouth on the 
invitation of the people in that town, but was not ordained until June 
30, 1669. He continued here about thirty years. He was a very 
faithful minister, and his exertions were extensively useful. He 
was completely occupied in doing good by visiting the families in 
his parish with the rulmg elders, catechising the children, and at- 
tending church meetings, and by his public preaching on the sab- 
bath. Before the admission of any person into the chm'ch he requir- 
ed a relation, either public or private, of the experience of a work of 
divine grace. He usually expounded the psalm, which was sung, 
and the psalms were sung in course. In 1681 the practice of read- 
ing the psalm line by line was introduced from regard to a brother, 
who was unable to read. Some difference of opinion between him 
and his church respecting the settlement of a neighboring minister 
having arisen, and there being no prospect of a reconciliation, he 
was induced to ask a dismission, which was granted October 5, 
1 697. Being soon invited to South Carolina, he set sail for Charles- 
ton November 15, 1698. After his arrival he gathei-ed a church, 
and labored with great diligence and much success till his death, 
September 18, 1699, aged about sixty years. In the short space of 
time, that he lived here, twenty five were added to the number, of 
Avhich the church consisted, when it was first organized ; and many 
were baptized. His church erected a handsome monument over 
his grave. 

Mr. Cotton was eminent, while in Massachusetts, for his acquaint- 
ance with the Indian language. When he began to learn it, he hir- 
ed an Indian for his instructer at the rate of twelve pence a day for 
fifty days ; but his knavish tutor, having received his whole pay in 
advance, ran away before twenty days had expired. Mr. Cotton 
however found means to perfect his acquaintance with the barbarous 
dialect. While at Plymouth he frequently prepched tg the Indians, 



25t» COT. 

who lived in several congregations in the neighborhood. The wholt 
care of revising and correcting Eliot's Indian bible, which was print- 
ed at Cambridge in 1685, fell on him. -^Co lie ctiona Mat. aoc. iv. 122 
—128, 137 ; Mather's magnalia, iii. 194, 199, 200 ; Mayhew'a In- 
dian converts ; Holmes' annals^ ii, 42. 

COTTON (John), minister of Newton, Massachusetts, was a 
descendant of the celebrated Mr. Cotton of Boston. He was grad- 
uated at Harvard college in 1710. Having been ordained as suc- 
cessor of the reverend Mr. Hobart November 3, 1714, he continu- 
ed in this place till his death, May 17, 1757, in the sixty fourth 
year of his age. He was faithful, fervent, and successful in his la- 
bors, and was particularly happy in seeing the attention of his peo- 
ple to religious truths in 1729 and 1740. He published, with other 
discourses, a sermon on the death of the reverend Nathaniel Cotton 
of Bristol, 1729 ; a sermon at the ordination of his brother, Wai'd 
Cotton, 1734 ; and four sermons, addressed to youth, 1739,— //o- 
mer's hist. Mevtton ; Collect, hist, soc. v. 273 — 276. 

CRADOCK (Thomas), rector of St. Thomas', Baltimore co\jnty» 
Maryland, delivered a sermon in 1753 before the governor and as- 
sembly on the irregularities of some of the clergy. He also pub- 
lished in 1756 a version of the psalms of David in heroic measure, 
which, though not destitute of merit, will hardly attract many read- 
ers at the present day. 

CROIX (John Baptist de la), second bishop of Quebec, was 
of a noble family in Grenoble, and was appointed first almoner 
to Louis XIV. He came to Canada about the year 1685, as suc- 
cessor to Laval, the first bishop. He died December 28, 1727, in 
the seventy fifth year of his age, having been forty two years in 
Quebec. Such was his benevolence, that he founded three hospi- 
tals, and distributed among the poor more than a million of livres^— 
Wynne's Brit, empire in ./America, ii. 138—141. 

CROSWELL (Andrew), minister in Boston, was graduated at 
Harvard college in 1728. After having been settled for some time 
in Groton, Connecticut, he was installed over a society in Boston, 
which was formed by persons from otlier churches, October 6, 
1738. The church, which was occupied, was formerly possessed 
by Mr. Le Mercier's society, and after Mr. Croswell's death it was 
converted into a Roman Catholic chapel. He died April 12, 1785, 
in the seventy seventh year of his age. It was his fate to be en- 
gaged much in controversy. He published a narrative of the new 
congregational church ; what is Christ to me, 'if he is not mine, 
or a seasonable defence of the old protestant doctrine of justifying 
faith, 1746 ; an answer to Giles Firmin's eight arguments in rela- 
tion to this subject ; several sermons agadnst Arroinians ; controver- 
sial writings with Turell, Gumming, and others ; part of an exjx)- 
sition of Paul's journey to Damascus, shewing, tliat giving more 
than forty stripes is breaking the moral law. 1768 ; remarks on 



CUM. 23T 

bish(^ Warburton's sermon before the society £br propagating the 
go»pel> 1768 ; remarks on commencement drollery, 1771. — Coir 
lect. hist. soc. iii. 264. 

CUMING (John), a benefactor of Harvard college, was an em- 
inent physician of Concord, Massachusetts, and died at Chelmsford 
July 3, 1788, in the sixty first year of his age. He was a christian, 
who early devoted himself to the service of his Maker, and he died 
in peace. He was a friend to learning, charitable to the poor, and 
constantly exerting himself to promote the good of society. His 
generous donations for the benefit of the poor, for the maintenance 
of schools, for a library iji Concord, and to the college in Cambridge, 
towards the support of a medical professor, are evidences of his en- 
lightened hGnevo\etu:G.--'Inde/iendent chronicle, July 24, 1788. 

CUMMING (Aiexandeb), minister in Boston, was educated 
at New Jersey college. He was installed as colleague with tlie rev- 
erend Dr. Sewall February 25, 1761, and he died in the peace 
of a christian August 25, 1763, in the thirty seventh year of his 
age. His mind readily comprehended points, which to others wei'e 
intricate and abstruse, and his public discourses were frequently on 
such subjects. He was zealous against the errors of the day. The 
sermon, which he preached at liis own instalment, was publislied, 
and it is a specimen of his talents, and of his regard to the truths 
of the gospel. — SeiuaU'sJiin. aerm. 

CUSHING (Thomas, ll. d.), lieutenant governor of Massachu- 
setts, was bom m the year 1725, and was graduated at Harvard col- 
lege in 1744. In early life he was called to respectable public offic- 
es. Having been chosen representative of Boston in the general 
court, his patriotism and talents soon procured him the appoint- 
ment of speaker, a place, which his tathei", who died April 11, 
1746, had occupied with gi-eat reputation. While in the chair, it 
was resolved in the controversy with England to make an appeal to 
arms, and he bent all his exertions to promote the cause of his 
country. He was a judicious and active member of tlie first Mid 
second congress. On his return to his own state he was elected in- 
to the council, which then constituted the supreme executive. He 
was also appointed judge of the courts of common pleas and of pro- 
bate in Suffolk, which stations he held till the adoption of the state 
constitution. Being then appointed lieutenant governor, he re- 
mained in that office till his death. He died February 28, 1788, in 
the sixty third year of his age, having had the satisfaction, a few 
days before, of seeing the new federal constitution ratified in Mas- 
sachusetts. He was from youth a professor of reliu,ion ; the mo- 
tives of the gospel governed him through liic ; and at the hour of 
his departure from the world its sublime doctrines and its promises 
gave him support. He was a man of abilities ; a disiinguished pa- 
triot ; a friend of learning ; charitable to tV.e poor ; and amiable it- 



^38 CUS. 

all the relations of life. His days were passed in constant exertioor 
for the public good. — American muveum^ vii. 163, 164; Centinely 
March 1, 1788 ; Ha r die' a biog. diet. 

CUSHING (Jacob, D. D.), minister of Walthani, Massachu- 
setts, was the son of the reverend Job Cushingof Shrewsbury, and 
was born February 28, 1730. Having passed his coUegial studies 
■with reputation, he was graduated at Harvard college in 1748. He 
was ordained November 22, 1752. After conthuiing fifty six years 
in the ministry, he died suddenly January 18, 1809, in the seventy 
ninth year of his age. He was mild and benevolent in his temper, 
and in the discharge of the duties of the pastoral office was cun- 
spicuuus for discretion and prudence. He professed neither attach- 
ment to theological systems, nor abhorrence of them, grounding 
his opinions directly on the scriptures. In his preaching however 
he was not so fond of dwelling upon those doctrines of the sacred 
volume, which are controverted, as upon the practical views of the 
gospel. It was remarkable, that as he travelled into years, he in- 
creased in the fervor and animation of his delivery ; so that on the 
borders of fourscore he was more zealous and acceptable than when 
in the meridian of life. He published the following sermons ; at 
the ordination of the reverend Samuel Williams, 1766 ; at the or- 
dination of the reverend Elisha Browne, 1771 ; at the ordination of 
the reverend Jacob Biglow, 1772 ; a sermon pi eacher at Lexington 
April 20, 1778; on the death of the reverend Joseph Jackson, 
1776. — Columbian centinely February 8, 1809. 

CUSHMAN (ROBERT), distinguished in the history of Plym- 
outh colony, was one of those worthies, who quitted England for 
the sake of liberty of conscience, and settled at Leyden. In 1617 
he was sent to England with Mr. Carver to procure a grant of lands 
in Ameiica, and in 1619 he was sent again with Mr. Bradford, and 
obtained a patent. He set sail with the first company in 1620, but 
the vessel proving leaky he was obliged to relinquish the voyage. ' 
He did not arrive at Plymouth till November 10, 162 1, and tarried 
only a month, being under the necessity of returning to give an ac- 
count of the plantation to the merchant adventurers, by whose assist- 
ance the first settlers were transported. While preparing to rejoin 
his friends in America, he was removed to another and better coun- 
try in 1626. He was a man of activity and enterprise, respectable 
for his talents and virtues, well acquainted with the scriptures, and 
a professed disciple of Jesus Christ. After his death his family 
came to New England, and his son, Thomas Cushman, succeeded 
Mr. Brewster, as ruling elder of the church of Plymouth. He died 
in 1691, in the eighty fourth ) ear of his age. Mr. Cushman, dur- 
ing his short residence at Plymouth, though not a minister, deUvcr- 
ed a discourse on the sin and danger of self love, which was printed, 
at Louvlon in 162 J, at Boston in 1724, and at Plymouth in 1785, 
with an appendix by John Davis, esquire, containing an account of 



CUT. 239 

Mr. Cushman. The design of the discourse was to repress the de- 
sire of personal property, which was beginning to exhibit itself, and 
to persuade our fathers to continue that entire community of inter- 
ests, which they at first established. Exti-acts from this valuable 
and curious relic of antiquity are preserved in Belknap. — Afifien- 
■dix to this discourse ; Bdknafi's Amer, biography, ii. 267 — 280. 

CUTLER (John), long an eminent physician and surgeon in 
Boston, died September 23, 1761, in the eighty sixth year of his 
age. 

CUTLER (Timothy, d. d.), president of Yale college, was 
the son of major John Cutler of Charlestown, Massachusetts, and 
was graduated at Harvard college in 1701. He was ordained Jan- 
uary 11, 1709 minister of Stratford, Connecticut, where he contin- 
ued ten years in high esteem, being the most celebrated preacher 
in the colony. In 1719 he was chosen president of Yale college, 
and entered upon the duties of the office in the same year. His 
predecessor was Mr. Pierson, in the interval between whose death 
and his accession the college had been removed to New Haven. The 
appointment of Mr. Cutler was considered as an auspicious event 
to the institution, for he was a man of profound and general learn- 
ing, particularly distinguished for his acquaintance with oriental 
•literature, and he presided over the college with dignity and repu- 
tation. In 1722 he was induced in consequence of reading the 
works of a number of late writers in England to renounce the com- 
munion of the congregational churches, and the trustees therefore 
passed a note " excusing him from all further service, as rector 
of Yale college," and requiring of future rectors satisfactory e^^- 
dence of " the soundness of their faith in opposition to Anninian 
and prelatical corruptions." He was succeeded by Mr. Williams- 
He went to Boston in October, where a new church was offered to 
him, and embarked with Mr. Johnson for England November fifth. 
In the latter end of March 172 3 he was ordained first a deacon and 
then a priest. From Oxfoi'd he received his degree of doctor in 
divinity. He set sail on his return to America July twenty sixth, and 
soon after became rector of Christ church in Boston, where he con- 
tinued till his death August 17, 1765, aged eighty two years. 

He was a man of strong powers of mind. He spoke Latin with 
great fluency and dignity, and he Avas one of the best oriental schol- 
ars, ever educated in this country. President Stiles represents him, 
as having more knowledge of the Arabic than any man in New 
England before him, except president Chauncy, and his disciple, 
Mr. Thacher. He was also well skilled in logic, metaphysics, 
moral philosophy, theology, and ecclesiastical history. He was a 
man of commanding presence. At the head of the college he was 
highly respected. He published a sermon before the general court 
at New Haven, 1717 ; and a sermon on the death of the honorable 
Thomas Greaves, 1757. — Cai^r's fur. cral sermon ; Milleryii. 35-9 ; 



g49 DAG. 

Clafi'a histovy of Yale college, 3 1 ; Whitejleld'f! journal in JV. £. 
1740, 48 ; Chandler's life of Johmon, 17, 27—39; Hoiihes' life 
of Stiles, 387 ; and annals, ii. 277. 

DAGGETT (Naphtali, d. d.), president of Yale college, 
A^as a native of Attleborough, Massachusetts. He was in 1748 
graduated at the institution, which was afterwards entrusted to his 
tare. In the year 1751 he was settled in the ministry at Smith 
Town on Long Island, from whence he was removed in li 175 6 to 
New Haven, and accepted the appointment of professor of divinity 
in the college. This office he filled the remainder of his life. Af- 
ter the death of Mr. Clap in 1766 he officiated as president till A- 
pril 1, 1777, when he resigned the chair. The reverend Dr. Stiles 
was appointed his successor. In 1779 he distinguished himself by 
his bravery, when the British attacked New Haven. He died No- 
vember 25, 1780, and was succeeded in his professorship by the 
reverend Samuel Wales. He was a good classical scholar, and a 
learned divine. He published a sermon at the ordination of the 
reverend Ebenezer Baldwin, 1 770 ; at the ordination of the rever- 
end Joseph Howe, 1776. -^//o/mes' ///e of Stiles, 392, 396; Gen, 
hist, of Connecticut, 412. 

DANFORTH (Thomas), president of the district of Maine, 
was born in England in 1622. After his arrival in this country, he 
lived at Cambridge, and had great influence in the management of 
public affairs in difficult times. He was an assistant in 1659. In 
1679 he was elected deputy governor. In the same year the in- 
habitants of the district of Maine, being no longer attached to Mas- 
sachusetts as a county, elected him president of the province. He 
accordingly opened his court at York, and granted several parcels of 
land. He continued in this office, and in that of deputy governor 
till the arrival of Andros at the end of the year 1686, and during 
this time resided chiefly in Cambridge. In 1681 he united with 
Gookin, Cooke, and others in opposing the acts of trade, and vindi- 
cating the chartered rights of his country. He died in 1699 aged 
Seventy seven years. He was a man of great integrity and wisdom. 
In the time of the witchcraft delusion in 1692 he evinced the cor- 
rectness of his judgment and his firmness by condemning the prb- 
cscdings of the courts. His two brothers were ministers of Rox- 

bury and of Billerica Hutchinson, i. 189. 323, 329, 331, 380, 

404 ; Sullivan's district of Maine, 385, 386 ; Collectiona historical 
society, v. 75. 

DANFORTH (Samuel), minister of Roxbury, Massachusetts, 
wa> born in England in 1626, and came to this country with, his fa- 
ther in 1634. After he was graduated at Harvard college in 1643 
lie was a tutor and fellow. When Mr. Weldc returned to England, 
Mr. Danforth was invited to become the colleague of the reverend 
Mr. Eliot of Roxbury, and he was accordingly ordained September 
'?4, 1630. He died November 19, 1674, aged forty eight years 



DAN. 241 

Hi3 sermons were elaborate, judicious, and methodical ; he wrote 
them twice over in a fair, large hand, and in each discourse usually 
quoted forty or fifty passages of scripture. Notwithstanding this 
care and labor he was so aft'ectionate and pathetic, that he rarely 
finished the delivery of a sermon without weeping. In the forenoon 
he usually expounded the old testament, and in the afternoon dis- 
coursed on the body of divinity. His wife, whom he married in 
1551, was the daughter of the reverend Mr. Wilson, and when he 
was contracted to her before his marriage, a sermon was preached 
by Mr. Cotton, according to the old usage of New England. Such 
was his peace in his last moments, that Mr. Eliot used to say, " my 
brother Danforth made the most glorious end, that I ever saw.'* Mr. 
Welde wrote a poem on his death, in which, in allusion to this 
event and the erection of a new house, he says in the spirit of the 
times, 

Our new built church now suffers too by this. 
Larger its windows, but its light are less. 
Mr. Danforth was not imacquainied with astronomy. He published 
a number of almanacs, and an astronomical description of the com- 
et, which appeared in 1664, with a brief theological application. He 
contends, that a comet is a heavenly body, moving according to defin- 
ed laws, and that its appearance is portentous. He published also the 
cry of Sodom inquired into, or a testimony against the sin of un- 
cleanness ; and the election sermon, it is believed in 1 670, entitled 
a recognition of New England's errand into the wilderness.— .ikTaf/i- 
er^s magnalia^ iv. 1 5 3 — • 157. 

DANFORTH (John), minister of Dorchester, Massachusetts, 
was the son of the preceding, and was graduated at Harvard college 
in 1677. He was ordained as successor of the revei'end Mr. Flint, 
June 28, 1 682. From this period he continued in the ministry till 
his death May 26, 1730, aged seventy eight years. The reveretid 
Jonathan Bowman, who survived him, was ordained his colleague on 
the fifth of November preceding. Mr. Danforth was a man of great 
learning, and while he possessed an uncommon acquaintance with 
mathematics, had also a taste for poetry. He wrote many epitaphs 
upon the good christians of his flock. He was an eminent servant 
of Jesus Christ, being sound in his principles, zealous to promote 
the salvation of his brethren, upright, holy, and devout. The fol- 
lowing lines, which are a version of Mr. Eliot's hints on the prop- 
er method of teaching the Indians the christian religion, may serve 
as a specimen of his poetry. 

Till agriculture and cohabitation 

Come under full restraint and regulation, 

Much you would do you'll find impracticable, 

And much you do will prove unprofitable. 

The common lands, that lie unfenc'd, you know. 

The husbandman in vain doth plough and sow ; 



242 DAN. 

Vv e hope in vniii the plant of grace will thrive 

In forests, ^vhcrc civility can't live. 
He published a sermon at the departure of the reverend Mr. Lorci 
and his church for Carolina, 1G97 ; the blackness of sinning against 
the light, 1710; funeral sermon on Edward Bromfield, esquire; 
judgment begun at the house of God, 1716; two sermons on the 
earthquake, to which is added a poem on the death of the reverend 
Peter Thachcr of Milton, and Samuel Danforlh of Taunton, 1727 ; 
a fast sermon ; a poem on the death of Mrs. Ann Eliot, and verses 
to the memory of her husband, the reverend John Eliot.— Co/AcY. 
hist. soc. iiv. 176, 177 ; Mtw EngUind rjcekly Journal, June 1, 1730. 
■ DANi'ORTH (Samuki.), minister of Taunton, Massachusetts, 
was the son of the reverend Mr. Danforth of Roxbury, and was 
born December 18, 1666. He was graduated at Harvard college 
in 1683, His death took place Noveniber 14, 1727. He was one 
of the most learned and eminent ministers of his day. In the be- 
ginning of the year 1705 by means of his benevolent labors a deep 
impression was made upon the minds of his people, and a most 
pleasing reformulion took place. The youth, who formerly assem- 
bled lor amusement and folly, now met for the exalted purpose of 
improving in christian knowledge and virtue, and of becoming fit- 
ted for the joys of the heavenly and eternal world, in the presence 
of Jesus, the Savior. Several letters of Mr. Danforth, giving an 
account of this reformation, are preserved in Mr. Prince's christian 
history. He published an eulogy on Thomas Leonard, 1713, and 
the election sermon, 1714. He left behhid him a manuscript In- 
dian dictionary, a part of which is now in the library of the Massa- 
chusetts historical society. It seems to have been formed from 
Eliot's Indian bible, as tlicrc is a reference, under every word, to a 
passage of scripture. — Collixl. hist. soc. iii. 173 ; i.x.. 176 ; Christ- 
ian history, i. 108. 

DARKE (V/iLLiAJi), a bravo ofiicer during the American war, 
Avas born in Philadelphia county in 1736, and when a boy accompa- 
nied his parents to Virginia. In the nineteenth year of his age he 
joined the armv under gciicral Braddock, and siiared in the dangers 
of his defeat in 1755. In the beginning of the war with Great Brit- 
ain he accepted a captain's commission, and served with great rep- 
utation till the close of the war, at which time he held the rank ef 
major. In 1791 he received from congress the command of a reg- 
iment in the army under general St. Clair, and bore a disthiguished 
part in the unfortunate battle with the Indians on tlie fourth of No- 
venilier in the same year. In this battle he lost a favorite son, and 
narrowly escaped with his own life. In his retirement during his 
remaining years he enjoyed the confidence of the state, which had 
adopted him, and was honored with the rank of major gencrid of the 
militia- He died at his seat in Jefferson county November 26, 
1801, in the sixty sixth year of his age. — JVcw York spectator^ De- 
■etnbtr 18, 1801. 



DAV. 243 

DAVENPORT (John), first minister of New Haven, and one 
4j{ the founders of the colony of that name, was born in the city of 
of Coventry in England in 1397. In the beginning of the year 
J 6 1-3 he was sent to Merton college, Oxford, where he continued 
about two years. He was then removed to Magdalen hull, which 
iie left without a degree. Retiring to London he became an emin- 
ent preacher among the puritans, and at length minister of St. Ste- 
phen's church in Coleman street. In 1625 he went to Magdalen 
hall, and performing the exercise required, took the degree of bach- 
elor of divinity. By his great industry he became a imiversal schol- 
ar, and as a preacher he held the first rank. There Avas in his de- 
livery a gravity, an energy, and an engaging eloquence, which were 
seldom witnessed. About the year 1 630 he united with Dr. Gouge, 
Dr. Sibs, and others in a design oi purchasing impit^priations, and 
with the profits of them to provide ministers for poor and destitute 
congregations. Such progress Avas made in the execution of the 
plan, that all the church lands in the possession of laymen would 
soon have been obtained ; but l:)ishop Laud, v/ho was appre- 
hensive, that the project would promote the interests of noncon- 
formity, caused the company to be dissolved, and the money to be 
confiscated to the use ol his majesty. As Mr. Davenport soon be* 
came a conscientious nonconformist, the persecutions, to which he 
was exposed, obliged him to resign his pastoral charge in Coleman 
street, and to retire into Holland at the close of the year 1633. He 
was invited to become the colleague of the aged Mr. Paget, pastor 
of the English church in Amsterdam ; but as he soon withstood the 
promiscuous baptism of children, wliich Avas practised in Holland, 
he became engaged in a controversy, wiiichin about two years oblig- 
ed him to desist from his public ministry. He now contented him- 
self with ginng private instruction ; but his situation becoming un- 
comfortable, he returned to London. A letter from Mr. Cotton, 
giving a favorable account of the colony of Massachusetts, induced 
Mr. Davenport to come to Boston, Avhere he arrived June 26, 1637, 
in company with IMr. Eaton and Mr. Hopkins. He was received 
with great respect, and in August was a pnident and uscfid member 
ol the synod, which was occasioned by the errors of the day. He 
sailed with his company March 30, 1638 for Quinnipiack, or New, 
Haven, to found a new colony. He prcaclicd under an oak Api'Il 
eighteenth, the first sabbath after tiieirarriva!,and he was minister here 
near thirty years. He endeavored to establish a civil and religious or- 
der more strictly in conformity to the v/ordof God,than he had seen 
exhibited in any part of the world. In the government, which was 
established, it was ordained, that rone but members of the church 
should enjoy the privileges of freemen. He wasanxious topromote 
the purity of the church, and he therefore wrote against tiie result 
of the synod of 1662, which met in Massachusetts, and recommed- 
cd a more general baptism of children, than had bciotc that lime 



244 DAV. 

been practised. He was scrupulously careful in admitting persons 
to church communion, it l)eing a fixed principle with him, that no 
person should be received into the church, who did not exhibit sat- 
isfactory evidence, that he was truly penitent, and believing. He 
did not think it possible to render the church perfectly pure, as men 
could not search into the heart, but he was persuaded, that there 
should be a discrimination. 

After the death of Mr. Wilson, pastor of the first church in Bos- 
ton, in 1667, Mr. Davenport was invited to succeed him; and at 
the close of the year he accordingly removed to that town. He was 
now almost seventy years of age, and his church and people were un- 
willing to be separated from him ; but his colony of New Haven 
had been blended with Connecticut, and he hoped to be more useful 
in Boston, where the strictness of former times in relation to eccle- 
siastical discipline had been somewhat relaxed. He was ordained 
pastor December 9, 1668, and the reverend James Allen at the 
«ame time teacher. But his labors in this place were of short con- 
tinuance, for he died of an apoplexy March 15, 1670, in the seven- 
ty third year of his age. He was a distinguished scholai*, an admir- 
able preacher, and a man of exemplary piety and virtue. Such was 
his reputation, that he was invited with Mr. Cotton and Mr. Hooker 
to take a seat among the Westminster divines. Knowing the effi- 
cacy of prayer, he recommended with earnestness ejaculatory 
addresses to heaven. His intrepidity saved Whalley and Goffe, the 
judges of king Charles, who fled to New Haven in 1661. He con- 
• cealed them in his own house, and when the pursuers were coming 
to New Haven preached publicly from Isaiah xvi. 3, 4, believing it 
to be a duty to afford them protection. His portrait is in the muse- 
um of Yale college. He published a sermon on 2 Samuel, i. 18, 
1629 i a letter to the Dutch classis, wherein is declared|the misera- 
ble slavery and bondage, that the English church at Arnsterdam is 
now in by reason of the tyrannical government and corrupt doctrines 
of Mr. John Paget, 1634 ; instructions to the elders of the EngUsh 
church, to be propounded to the pastors of the Dutch church ; a re- 
port of some proceedings about his calling to the English church, 
against John Paget ; allegations of scripture against the baptizing 
of some kind of infants ; protestation about the publication of his 
writings, all in 1634 ; an apologetical reply to the answer of W. 
Best 1636 ; a discourse about civil government in a new plantation, 
whose design is religion ; a profession of his faith made at his ad- 
mission into one of the churches of New England, 1642 ; the 
knowledge of Christ, wherein the types, prophecies, he. relating to 
him are opened ; the Messiah is already come, a sermon, 1653 ; 
^nt's anchor hold in all storms and tempests, 1661 ; election ser- 
mon, 1669 ; God's call to his people to turn unto him in two fast 
sermons, 1670 ; the power of congregational churches asserted 
and vindicated, in answer to a treatise of Mr. Paget, 1672. He al- 



DAV. 245 

so wrote in Latin a letter to John Dury, which -was subscribed hy 
the rest of the ministers of New Haven colony, and he gave his aid to 
Mr. Norton in his life of Cotton. He left behind him an exposition 
on the Canticles in a hundred sheets of small hand writing, but it 
was never published.— J^^'ood's Athe7ioe Oxoniensesy ii. 460 — 462, 
450 ; Math(r*s magnalia, iii. 5 1 — 57 ; Trumbull's Connecticut, i. 89, 
490 — 492 ; Morse's and Parish's M-w England, 133 — 139 ; JVeal's 
JVew England, i. 386 ; Hutchinson, i. 84, 226 ; Winthrop, 131, 254 ; 
Holmes' annals, i, 407 ; Stiles' hist, judges, 32, 69 ; Hardie's biog, 
dictionary. 

DAVENPORT (John), minister of Stamford, Connecticut, di.ed 
February 5, 1731, in the sixty second year of his age, and the thir- 
ty sixth of his ministry. Courageous in the reprehension of prev- 
alent vices, and pungent in his addresses to the conscience, he was 
eminently faithful as a minister, and being devout and exemplary in 
his life he was revered by all good men. The original languages, 
in which the scriptures are written, were almost as familiar to him.- 
as his mother tongue. When he read the bible in his family, he 
did not make use of the English translation, but of the Greek and 
Hebrew original ; so that in his acquaintance with these language* 
" he was not surpassed by any survivors within many scores of 
miles every way." — Cook's funeral sermon. 

DAVIE (Mary) died at Newton, Massachusetts, in 1752, aged 
one hundred and sixteen years. Her portrait, drawn by Smibert, is 
in the museum of the historical socitXy .—Holmes' annals, ii. 192. 

DAVIES (Samuel), president of Princeton college in New 
Jersey, was born November 3, 1724. His father was a planter in 
the county of Newcastle on the Delaware of great simplicity of 
manners and of reputed piety. He was an only son. His mother, 
an eminent christian, had earnestly besought him of heaven, and 
believing him to be given in answer to prayer, she named him 
Samuel. This excellent woman took upon herself the task of teach- 
ing her son to read, as there was no school in the neighborhood ; 
and her efforts were rewarded by the uncommon proficiency of her 
pupil. At the age often he was sent to a school at some distance 
from home, and continued in it two years. His mind was at this 
period very little impressed by religious truth, though he was not 
inattentive to secret prayer, especially in the evening ; but it was 
not long before that God, to whom he had been dedicated, and who 
designed him for eminent service in the gospel of his Son, was 
pleased to enlighten and renew him. Perceiving himself to be a 
sinner, exposed to the awful displeasure of God, he was filled with 
anxiety and terror. In this distress he was enabled to discern the 
importance and all sufficiency of the salvation, revealed in the gos- 
pel. This divine system of mercy now appeared in a new light. 
It satisfied his anxious inquiries, and made provision for all his 
wants. In the blood and righteousness of the Redeemer he found 



246 DAY. 

an unfailing source of consolation. His comforts liowcvcr were 
long intermingled with doubts ; but after rej/cated and impartial 
self exan»ination he attained a confidence respecting his state, which 
continued to the close of life. From this period his mind seemed 
almost entirely absorbed by heav-enly things, and it was his great 
concern, that every thought, word, and action should correspond 
•with the divine law. Having tasted tiie joys of religion, he became 
eagerly desirous of imparting to his fellow sinners the knowledge 
of the truth. With this object before him he engaged with new 
ardor in literary and theological pursuits. Every obstacle was sur- 
mounted ; and after the previous trials, which he passed with dis- 
tinguisiicd approbation, he was licensed to p eacli the gospel. 

He now applied himself to unfold and cnlorcc tliose precious 
truths, whofjc power he had experienced on his own heart. His fer- 
vent zeal and unoissembied piety, liiri popular talents and engaging 
methods of address soon excited genend admiration. At this lime 
an uncommon regard to religion existed in H. mover county, Vir- 
ginia, produced by the benevolent exertions of Mr. Morris, a lay- 
man. The event was so remarkable, and the Virginians in general 
were so ignorant of the true doctrines of the gospel, that the pres- 
bytery of Newcastle thotight it incumbent upon them to send thitlv- 
cr a faithful jireacher. Mr. Davies was accordingly chosen. He 
ivent to Hanover in April 1747, and soon obtained of the general 
court a license to ofHciaie in four meeting houses. After preach- 
ing assiduously for some time, and not without effect, he returned 
from Virginia, though earnestly invited to continue his labors. A 
call for him to settle at Hanover was immediately sent to the pres- 
bytery ; but he was about this time seized by complaints, which ap 
pearcd consumptive, and which brought him to the borders of the 
grave. Li this enfeebled state he determined to spend the remain- 
der of his life in unremitting endeavors to iidvance the interests of 
religion. Being among a people, who were destitute of a minister, 
his indisposition did not repress his exertions. He still preached 
in the day, while by night his hectic was so severe, as sometimes 
to render him delirious. In tiie spring of 1748 a messenger from 
Hanover visited him, and he thought it his duty to accept the invi- 
tation of tl;e people in that place. He hoj^ed, that he might live to 
organize t!ie congregation. His health, however, gradually improv- 
ed. In October 1748 three more meeting houses were licensed, 
and among his seven assemblies, which were in different counties, 
at a considerable distance from each other, he divided his labors. 
His preaching encountered all the obstacles, which could arise from 
blindness, prejudice, and iMgotry, from profaneness and immorattty. 
He and those, wh.o attended upon his preaching, were denominated 
new lights by the more zealous episeopaliuis. liut by his patience 
and perseverance, his magnanimity and piety, in conjunction with 
his evangelical ■ nd powerful ministry, he triumphed over opposi* 



"DAV. 247 

'«k)n. Contempt and aversion were gradually turned into rever- 
ence. Many were attracted by curiosity to hear a man of such dis- 
tinguished talents, and he proclaimed to them the most solemn and 
impressive truths with an energy, which they could not resist. It 
pleased God to accompany these exertions with the efficacy of his 
Spirit. In about il;ree years Mr. Davies beheid three hundred 
communicants in his congregation, whom he considered as real 
christians. He had also in this period baptized about forty adult ne- 
groes, who made such a profession of saving faith, as he judged 
credible. 

From this scene of toil and of christian enjoyment he was in the 
providence of Go<i called away for a short time. In 1753 the synod 
of New York, at the instance of the trustees of New Jersey college, 
chose him to accompany the reverend Gilbert Tenncnt to Great 
Britain to solicit benefactions for the college. This service he 
cheerfully undertook, and he executed it with singular spirit and suc- 
cess. The liberal benefactions obtained from the patrons of relig- 
ion and learning placed the college in a retpectable condition. Af- 
ter his return to America he entered anew on his beloved task of 
preaching the gospel in Hanover. Here he continued till 1759, 
when he was chosen prciident of the college, as successor of pres- 
ident Edwards. He hesitated in his acceptance of the appointment, 
for his people were endeared to him, and he loved to be occupied in 
the various duties of the ministerial office. But repeated applica- 
tions, and the unanimous opinion of the synod cf New York and 
Philadelphia at length determined idm. He was inducted into his 
new office in July 1759, Here th. vigor and versatility of his ge- 
nius were strikingly displayed. The ample opportunities and de- 
.mands, which he found foi- the exercise of his talents, gave a new 
spring to his diligence ; and while his active labors were multiplied 
and arduous, his studies were intense. He left the college at his 
death in as high a state of literary excellence, as it had ever knowH 
since its institution. In the shoit space of eighteen months he 
made some considerable improvements in the seminary, and was 
particularly happy in inspiring his pupils with a taste for writing and 
oratory, in which he himself so much excelled. In January 1761 he 
was seized by an inflammatory fever, which terminated his life on the 
fourth of February, when he was but little more than thirty six years 
of age. During most of his si vkness his disorder deprived him of 
the exercise of reason, but even his bewildered mind was continu- 
ally imagining seme expedient for promoting the Redeemer's king- 
dom, and the good of mankind. He was succeeded in the office of 
president by the reverend Dr. Finley. 

The Father of sjjirits had endued Mr. Davies with the richest in- 
tellectual gifts ; with a vigorous understanding, a glowing imagin- 
ation, a fertile invention, united with a correct judgment, and a re- 
tentive memory. He was bold and enterprising,, and destined to 



24a DAV. 

excel in whatever he undertook. Yet was he divested of the pride 
of talents and of science, and being nioulded into the temper of the 
gospel he consecrated all his powers to the promotion ot religion, 
*' O, my dear brother," says he in a letter to his friend, Dr. Gibbons, 
" could we spend our lives in painful, disinterested, indefatigable 
service for God and the world, how serene and bright would it ren- 
der the swift approaching eve of life ! I am laboring to do a little 
to save my country, and, which is of much more consequence, to 
save souls from death, from that tremendous kind of death, which a 
soul can die. I have but little success of late ; but, blessed be God, 
it surpasses my expectation, and much more my desert," His re- 
ligion was purely evangelical. It brought him rfo the foot of the 
cross to receive salvation as a free gift. It rendered him humble 
and dissatisfied with himself amidst nis highest attainments. While 
he Contended earnestly for the great and distinguishing doctrines 
of the gospel, he did not attach an undue importance to points, res- 
pecting which christians may difi'cr. It v/as the power of religion, 
and not any particular form, that he was desirous of promoting, and 
real worth ever engaged his esteem and effection. Having sought 
the truth with diligence, he avowed his sentiments with the greatest 
simplicity and courage. Though decided in his conduct, he was 
yet remarkable for the gentleness and suavity of his disposition. A 
friend, who was very intimate with him for a number of years, nev- 
er observed him once angry during that period. His anient benev- 
olence rendered him the delight of his friends and the admiration 
of all, who knew him. In his generous eagerness to supply the 
wants of the poor he often exceeded his ability. As a parent he 
felt all the solicitude, which nature and grace could inspire. " There 
is nothing," he writes, " that can wound a parent's heart so deeply, 
as the thought, that he should bring up children to dishonor his God 
here, and be miserable hereafter. I beg your prayers for mine, 
and yovi may expect a return in the same kind.— We have now 
three sons and two daughters. My dear little creatures sob and 
drop a tear now and then under my instructions ; but I am not so 
happy as to sec them under deep and lasting impressions of relig- 
ion ; and this is the greatest grief they afford me." As president 
of the college he possessed an admirable mode of government and 
instruction. He watched over his pupils with the tender solicitude 
of a fiithcr, and secured equally -their reverence and love. He 
seized every opportunity to inculcate on them the worth of their 
souls, and the pressing necessity of securing immediately the bless- 
ings of solvation. In the pulpit he presented a model of the most 
striking oratory. His hearers were all attention, and their passions 
were at his command. As his personal appearance was august and 
venerable, yet benevolent and mild, he could address his auditory 
either with the most commanding authority, or with the most melting 
tenderness. When he spoke, he seemed to have the glories and 



DAY. 249 

terrors bf the unseen world in his eye. He seldom preached with- 
out producing some visible emotions in great numbers present, and 
without making an impression on one or more, which was never ef- 
faced. His favorite themes were the utter depravity and impotence 
of man ; the sovereignty and free grace ol Jenovalt ; the divinity of 
Christ ; the atonement in his blood ; justification through his rigtit- 
eousness ; and regeneration and sanctification by the Holy Spirit. 
He viewed these doctrines, as constituting the essence of the christ- 
ian scheme, and he considered those, who attempted to subvert and 
explain them away, as equally hostile to the truth of God, and the 
"best interests of men. His printed sermons, which exhibit his sen- 
timents, abound with striking thoughts, with the beauties and ele- 
■gancies of expression, and with the richest imagery. His highly 
ornamented style is the more pardonable, as he was by nature a po- 
et, and forms of expression were familiar to him, which to others 
jnay seem unnatural and aifected. 

He published a sermon on man's primitive state, 1748 ; the 
state of religion among the protestant dissenters of Virginia in a 
letter to the reverend Joseph Bellamy, 1751 ; religion and patriot- 
ismi the constituents of a good soldier, a sermon befor; a company 
of volunteers, 1753 ; Virginia's danger and remedy,t wo discourses 
occasioned by the severe drought and defeat of gene ral Braddock, 

1756 ; curse of cowardice, a sermon before the mili.ia of Virginia, 

1757 ; letters from 1751 to 1757, shewing the state of religion in 
Virginia, particularly among the negroes ; the vessels of mercy 
and the vessels of wrath, 1758 ; a sermon on the death of George 
II, 1761 ; sermons on the most useful and important subjects, 3 
vol. 8vo, 1765,- which have passed through a number of editions ; 
and sermons, 2 vol. 8vo. — Preface to his sermons; Finley's and Gib- 
bon's J'un. sermons ; Gibbon's elegiac fioein ; Panop list, ii. 155 — 160, 
249 — 256, 302 — 307 ; Middleion's bicg. evang. iv. 341 — 350 ; As- 
sembly's miss. mag. i. 371, 425, 536, 578 ; ii. 341—350 ; the state 
of religion in Virginia ; Bostwick's account,, prefixed to Davies' serm. 
on George II ; JIar die's biog. diet. 

DAYTON (Elias), a brave friend of his country, died at Phila-^^t— 
delphia in July 1807, in the seventy first year of his age. At the 
Commencement Tof the American revolution, though in the enjoy- 
ment of every domestic lilessing, he took an active part, and never 
quitted the tented field till the consummation of independence. He 
was open, generous, and sincere ; ardent in his friendships ; scru- 
pulously 'upright ; in manners easy, unassuming, and pleasant; 
prompt and diffusive in his charities ; and also a warm supporter 
of the gospel. At the time of his death he held the office of ma- 
jor general. — Brown's American register, ii. 76. 

DEA^E (Silas), minister of the United States to the court of 
France, was a native of Groton, Connecticut, and was graduated at 
Yale college in 1758. He was a member of the first congressj, 



250 DEL. 

which met in 1774. In 1776 he was deputed to France as a polit- 
ical and commercial agent, and he arrived at Paris in June with in- 
structions to sound the disposition of the cabinet on the controversy 
with Great Britain, and to endeavor to obtain supplies of military 
stores. In September it was agreed to appoint ministers to nego- 
tiate treaties with foreign powers, and Dr. Franklin and Mr. Jeffer- 
son were elected tojoin Mr. Dcane in France. But Mr. Jeffersoa 
declining the appointment, Mr. Arthur Lee, then in London, was 
chosen in his place. It is remarkable, that the delegates of Con- 
necticut did not vote for Mr. Deane. In December the three com- 
missioners met at Paris. Though Mr. Deane assisted in negotiat- 
ing the treaty with his most christian majesty, yet he had very little 
to recommend him to the high station, in which he was placed. 
He was instructed to engage not exceeding four engineers, and he 
was most profuse in his promise of ofiices of rank to induce French 
gentlemen to come to America. Congress lieing embarrassed by 
his contracts was under the necessity of recalling him November 
21, 1777, and Mr. John Adams was appointed in his place. He 
left Paris April 1, 1778. After his arrival in this country, he was 
desired to give an account of his transactions on the floor of con- 
gress, but he did not remove all suspicions of having misapplied 
the public monies. He evaded the scrutiny by pleading, that his 
papers were in Europe. To divert the public attention from him- 
self he in December published a manifesto, in which he arraigned 
before the bar of the public the conduct not only of those concerned 
in foreign negotiations, but of the members of congress themselves. 
In 1784 he published an address to the citizens of the United 
States, complaining of the manner, in which he had been treated. 
He went soon afterwards to Europe, and at last, reduced to extreme 
poverty, died in a miserable condition at Deal in England August 
23, 1789.-— JVarren's hist. Jmer.revolution,u. 130 — 137 ; Alarshall, 
lit. 155, 411 ; iv. 5 ; Hardie'ii biog. dictionary ; Gordon, iii. 216. 

DELAWARE, one of the United States of America, was at 
first settled at cape Henlopen by a colony of Swedes and Finns in 
1627. They laid out a small town near Wilmington in 1 631, but it 
was destroyed by the Dutch. They were at first subject to a gov- 
ernor under a commission from the king of Sweden. In 1655 
they were subdued by the Dutch from New York, and they con- 
tinued under this government until the Dutch were subdued by the 
English in 1664, when they passed -under the authority of the 
English governor of New York. 

In 1682 this colony was united to Pennsylvania under sir Will- 
iam Penn, and the inhabitants enjoyed all the benefit of the laws of 
the province. They were from this time to be considered as the 
same people. The freemen were summoned to attend the assem- 
bly in person, but they chose to elect representatives. In the set- 
tlement of this country under the government of Mr. Penn the 



DEL. 251 

lands were purchased and not forcibly taken from the natives. The 
Dutch had previously adopted a similar practice. In 1692 the 
government of Pennsylvania and Delaware was assumed by the 
crown, and was entrusted to colonel Fletcher, governor of New 
York. But in the latter end of 1693 the govei-nment was restored 
to Mr. Penn, who appointed William Markham lieutenant governor. 
During his administration in 1696 another frame of government 
was adopted, which continued to be the constitution of Pennsylva- 
nia and Delaware during the whole time of their union in legisla- 
tion. 

When the next charter ^vas accepted by the province of Penn- 
sylvania in October 1701 it was totally rejected by the members of 
the three lower counties of Delaware. This rejection and conse- 
quent separation did not originate in caprice. By the new charter 
the principles of the first constitution were essentially altered. 
The people had no longer the election of the council, who were to 
be nominated by the governor. He, instead of having but three 
votes in seventy two, was left single in the executive, and had the 
pcwer of restraining the legislature by I'efusing his assent to their 
bills, whenever he thought fit. 

For many years alter the separation the repose of the lower 
counties remained almost undisturbed. At last the contests be- 
tween the two proprietaries, WilUam Penn and lord Baltimore, 
revived, and when the claimants were satisfied with the portion of 
expense, anxiety, and trouble, which fell to their share in conse- 
quence of their dispute, they entered into articles of agreement on 
the tenth of May 1732, ascertaining the mode of settlement and 
appointing commissioners to complete the contract. Those arti- 
cles made a particular provision for adjusting the controversy by 
drawing part of a circle about the town of New Castle and by de- 
termining the boundary line between Maryland and the Delaware 
colony. But the execution of those articles and of the decree 
thereon was delayed until they were superseded by another agree- 
ment between Fredeiic, lord Baltimore, son and heir of Charles, 
lord Baltimore, and the proprietaries of Pennsylvania, which was 
made July 4, 1760, and was confirmed by decree on March 6, 1762. 
The lines were designated from actual survey. But from several 
causes there never was a complete change of jurisdiction until Mr. 
Penn's proclamation for that purpose, April 8, 1775. By an act 
of the Delaware legislature of the second of September the change 
was effected and the boundaries of the counties and hundreds es- 
tablished. 

The tranquil state of this colony was not much interrupted, 
except by the wars, in which it was obliged to participate from its 
connection with Great Britain. In the war, which commenced in 
1755 Delaware was inferior to none of the colonies in furnishing 
supplies in proportion to its wealth and ability. In the year 1763 



252 Die. 

its expenditures so much exceeded its regular proportion, that a 
parliamciitary grant ot" near four thousand pounds sterling was 
made towards a reimbursement of those expenses. 

From the beginning of the struggle between the colonies and 
Great Britain this provitice exhibited a bccou\ing spirit. So early 
as October 1765 representatives were deputed to attend the first 
congress, whicn was held at New York, for the purpose of obtaining 
a repeal of some of the most obnoxious of the British statutes. 
In the year 1773 the legislature appointed a standing committee of 
five members to correspond with the other colonies and to procure 
the most authentic political intelligence respecting the resolutions 
of parliament and the procceuings of the administration in relation 
to America. When the town of Boston by the operation of the 
port bill was reduced to great distress, supplies from different parts 
of this colony were forwarded for its relict. During the war there 
was no relaxation in the spirit and exertions of this state. Their 
supplies of every kind requisite to the public service were proofs 
of a siricere attachment to the common cause. The Delaware 
regiment was <^onsidered as one of the finest and most efficient in 
the con'inental uhny. Its brave commander, colonel John Haslet, 
"\Tas killed at the battle of Princeton. The peculiar exposure of 
this state to the ravages of war put a stop to its growth and prosper- 
ity. The interests of literature, in a particular manner, suffered. 
The flourishing academies of Newark and Wilmington lost their 
students, and by depreciation of the continental currency lost their 
funds. 

Previously to the late revolution this district of country was 
denominated the three lower counties on Delaware. In September 
1776 a constitution was established by a convention of representa- 
tives, chosen for that express purpose, and at that time the name of 
the state of Delaware was assumed. The present constitution was 
adopted on the twelfth of June 1792. It establishes a general 
assembly, consisting of a senate and a house of representatives ; 
the members of the former are chosen every three years and of 
the htter annually ; the governor, who has no share in enacting the 
laws, is elected every three years, and cannot remain in office 
two terms in immediate succession ; the judges are liable to be 
removed on address to the governor of two tliirds of all the mem- 
bers of brith branches of the legislature. — Eiicijclojutdia^ j^mrr. edit. 

DICKINSON (Jonathan), first president of New Jersey col- 
lege, was graduated at Yale college in 1706, and within one or two 
years afterwards he was settled minister of the first prcsbyterian 
church in Elizabeth Town, New Jersey. Of this church he was 
for ne »r forty years the joi and glory. As a friend of liternture he 
was also eminently useful. The charter of the college of New Jer- 
sev, which ha'' never yet been carried into operation, was enlarged 
by governor Belcher, October 22, 1746 ; and Mr. Dickinson was 



Die. 253 

appointed president. Tlie institution commenced at Elizabeth 
To\vn, but it did not long enjoy the advantages ot his superintend- 
ence, for it pleased God to call him away from life October 7, 1747, 
in the sixtieth year of his age. He was the friend of David Brai- 
nerd, and died only two days before him. 

Mr. Dickinson was himself a man of learning, of distinguished 
talents, and much celebrated as a preacher ; and he was succeed- 
ed in the college by men, who hold a high reputation in our 
country ; by Burr, Edwards, Davies, Finley, and Witherspoon. 
He had a mind formed for inquiry ; he possessed a quick per- 
ception and an accurate judgment j and to a keen penetration he 
united a disinterested attachment to truth. With a natural turn for 
controversy he had a happy govermnent of his passions, and abhor- 
red the perverse disputings, so common to men of corrupt minds.. 
The eagerness of contention did not extinguish in him the fervors 
of devotion and brotherly love. By his good works and exemplary 
life he adorned the doctrines of grace, which he advocated with zeal. 
He boldly appeared in defence of the great truths of our most holy 
religion, confronting what he considered as error, and resisting ev- 
ery attack on the christian faith. He wished to promote the inter- 
ests of practical godliness, of holy living, and therefore he Avith- 
stood error in every shape, knowing that it poisons the heart and 
thus destroys the very principles of virtue. 

He was an enemy to that blind charity, that politic silence, that 
temporizing moderation, which sacrifices the truths of God to hu- 
man friendships, and under color of peace and candor gives up im- 
portant points of gospel doctrine to every opposer. He knew, that 
this temper was inconsistent with the love of truth, and was usually 
connected with the hatred of those, who engaged Avarmly in its sup- 
port. He expected to be opposed and ridiculed, if he followed his 
Savior, and preached with plainness and earnestness the doctrines, 
which are so obnoxious to the corrupt heart and perverted under- 
standing. Still under pretence of zeal for truth he concealed no 
party animosity, no bigotry, no malevolence. He had generous 
sentiments with regard to freedom of inquiry and the rights of pri- 
vate judgment in matters of conscience, not approving subcription 
to human tests of oi-thodoxy. As he lived a devout and useful life 
and was a bright ornament to his profession, he died universally la- 
mented. 

His writings possess very considerable merit. They are design- 
ed to unfold the M^onderful method of redemption, and to excite 
men to that cheerful consecration of all their talents to their Mak- 
er, to that careful avoidance of sin and practice of godliness, which 
will exalt them to glory. He published the reasonableness of 
Christianity in four sermons, Boston, 1732 ; the true scripture doc- 
trine concerning some important points of christian faith, particular- 
ly eternal election, original sin, grace in conversion, justiiuation 

/ 



254 BIC. 

by faith, and the saint's perseverance, in five discourses, 1741, in 
answer to Mr. VViuU)y ; a sermon on tlie witness of the Spirit, 
May 174/; on tiie a imre and nece-ssity of regeneration, with re- 
marks on Dr. Watedand's regei>eration stated and explained, 1743, 
against baptismal iCj^ei'eration ; a display of God's special grace in ^ 
familiar dialogue, 1742; reflecdons upon Mr. Wetmore's letter in 
defence of Dr. VVaterivtud's discourse on regeneration, 1745. The 
above works were hantisoniely published in an octavo volume at Ed- 
inburgh in 1793. President Dickinson published also a defence of 
presbytevian ordination in answer to a pamphlet, entitled a modest 
proot &c., 1724 ; the vanity ot human institutions in the worship 
of God, a sermon preached at Newark June 2, 1736 ; a defence of 
it afterwards ; a second defence of it agairst ihe exceptions of Mr. 
John Beach in his appeal to the unprejudiced, 1738 ; this work is 
entitled, the reasonableness ot nonconformity to the church of Eng- 
land in point of worship ; familiar letters upon various important sub- 
jects in religion, 1745 ; apamphletin favor of infant baptism, 1746 j 
a vindication of God's sovereign, free grace ; a second vindication 
he. against Mr. John Beach, to which are added brief reflections an 
Dr. Johnson's defence of Aristocles' letter to Authades, 1748 ; on 
account of the deliverence of Robert Barrow, shipwrecked among 
the cannibals of Florida. — Pierson's sermon on his death ; preface to 
his sermons, Edin. edit. ; Miller, n. 345 ; Backus' abr. 191 ; Doug* 
lass, ii. 284 ; Brainerd^s life., 129, 161 ; Boston Gazette, October 20, 
1747 ; Chandler's life of Johnson, 69. 

DICKINSON (John), a distinguished political writer and friend 
•f his country, was the son of Samuel Dickinson, esquire, of Del- 
aware. He was a member of the assembly of Pennsylvania in 
1764, and of the general congress in 1765. In November 1767 he 
began to publish his celebrated letters against the acts of the British 
parliament, laying duties on paper, glass, &c. They supported the 
liberties of his country, and contributed much to the American rev- 
«lution. He was a member of the first congress in 1774, and the 
petition to the king, which was adopted at this time, and is consid- 
ered as an elegant composition, was written by him. In Jime 1776 
he opposed openly and upon principle the declaration of independ- 
ence, when the motion was considered by congress. His arguments 
were answered by John Adams, who advocated a separation from 
Great Britain. The part, which Mr. Dickinson took in this debate, 
occasioned his I'ccal from congress, as his constiAicnts did not coin- 
cide with him in his political views, and he was absent several years. 
Perceiving at length, tliat his countrymen were unalterably fixed in 
their system of independence, he fell in with it, and was as zealous 
in supporting it in congress about the year 1 780, as any of the 
members. He was president of Pennsylvania from November 
1782 to October 1785, and was succeeded in this office by Dr. 
Franklin. Soon after 1785> it is believed, he removed to Delaware, 



Die. 255 

\iy which state he was appointed a member of the old congress, an4 
of which state he was president. He died at Wilmington February 
15, 1808, at an advanced age. He filled with ability the various 
high stations, in which he was placed. He was distinguished by his 
strength of mind, miscellaneous knowledge, and cultivated taste, 
which were united with a habitual eloquence, with an elegance of 
manners, and a benignity, which made him the delight as well as the 
ornament of society. The infirmities of declining years had de- 
tached him long before his death from the busy scenes of life ; but 
in retirement his patriotism felt no abatement. The welfare of his 
country was ever dear to him, and he was ready to make any sacri- 
fices for its promotion. Unequivocal in his attachment to a repub- 
lican government, he invariably supported, as far as his voice could 
have influence, those men and those measures, which he believed 
most friendly to republican principles. He was esteemed for his 
uprightness and the purity of his morals. From a letter, which he 
wrote to the honorable James Warren, esquire, dated the twenty 
fifth of the first month, 1805, it would seem, that he was a member 
of the society of friends. He published a speech delivered in the 
house of assembly of Pennsylvania, 1764 ; a reply to a speech of 
Joseph Galloway, 1765 ; late regulations respecting the colonies 
considered, 1765 ; letters trom a farmer in Pennsylvania to the in- 
habitants of the British colonies, 1767 — 1768. Mr. Dickinson's 
political writings veere collected and published in two volumes 8vo. 
1801. — Gordo7i, i. 220 ; Ramsay^ ii. 319 ; Warren, i. 412 ; Adams* 
sixth letter to Dr. Calkoen ; Monthly anthology, v. 226; JVationaV 
intelligencer, February 22, 1808 ; Marshall, iv. note at end ; v. 97^ 

DICKINSON (Philemon), a brave officer in the revolutionary 
war, died at his seat near Trenton, New Jersey, February 4, 1 809, 
in the sixty ninth year ot his age. He took an early and an active 
part in the struggle with great Britain, and hazai^ed his ample for* 
tune and his life in establishing our independence. In the memora- 
ble battle of Monmouth at the head of the Jersey militia he exhib- 
ited the spirit and gallantry of a soldier of liberty. After the estab- 
lishment of the present national government he was a member of 
congress. In the various stations, civil and military, with which he 
was honored, general Dickinson discharged them with zeal, uprights- 
ness, and ability. The last twelve or fifteen years of his life were 
spent in retirement from public concerns. — <Philadel/ihia Gazette^ 
February 7, 1809. 

DOUGHERTY (Michael), remarkable for longevity, died at 
his plantation on Horse Creek, in Scriven county, Georgia, May 29, 
1808, aged one hundred and thirty five years; He was one of the 
first settlers of that state. The day before he died he walked two 
miles. — Charleston courier, June 1 1, 1808 ; Amer. register, iii. 563» 

DOUGLASS (William, m. d.), a physician in Boston, was a 
HSitive of Scotland, and caaie to this country as early as the year 



256 DRA. 

1715 or 1720. In the year 1721 he put into the hands of Dr. Cot- 
ton Mather a volume of the philosophical transactions, containing an 
account of the practice of inoculating for the small pox at Con- 
stantinople, and that benevolent minister immediately introduced 
the practice in Boston by the assistance of Dr. Boylston, Dr. 
Douglass at first violently opposed the inoculation, and published 
several tracts against it, in vi^hich he attacked the clergymen, who 
supported the practice. He (hcd October 21, 1752. He was a 
skilful physician. His prejudices were" very strong, and in his lan- 
guage he was frequently intemperate. His notions of religion 
were very loose. In his history of the American colonies, he is 
often incorrect in point of fact, and it was his foible to measure the 
worth of men by his personal friendship for them. A town of 
Massachusetts, of which he was a proprietor and benefactor, bears 
his name. He published the inocukiion of the Siuall pox, as prac- 
tised in Boston, 1722 ; the abuses and scandals of some late pam- 
phlets in favor of inoculation, 1722 ; a practical essay concerning 
the small pox, containing the history, &c. 1730; practical history 
of a new eruptive, miliary fever, with an angina ulcusculosa, which 
prevailed in Boston in 1735 and 1736, 12mo, 1736 ; a summary, his- 
torical and political, of the first planting, progressive improvements, 
and present state of the British settlements in North Ameiica, tha 
first volume, 1739, the second, 1753. — Suynmary^ ii. 409 ; Hutchirv' 
son, ii. 80 ; Coll. hist. soc. ix. 40 ; IVhitney's liist. PForcester, 203 ; 
Amer. museum, iii. 53 ; Holmes* annals, ii. 192. 

DRAYTON (William Hf.xry), a political writer of consider- 
able eminence, was a native of South Carolina. He was one of his 
majesty's justices in that province, when they made their last circuit 
in the spring of 1 775, and the only one born in America. In his charge 
to the grand jury he inculcated the same sentiments in favor of liberty, 
which were patronised by the popular leaders. Soon afterwards he 
was elected president of the provincial congress, and devoted his 
great abilities with uncommon zeal for the support of the measures 
adopted by his native country. Before the next circuithis colleagues 
were advertised as inimical to the liberties of America, and he was- 
not long alter appointed chief justice by the voice of his country. 
He died in Philadelphia in 1779, while attending his duty in con- 
gress, in the thirty seventh year of his age. In 1774 he wrote a 
pamphlet, addressed to the American congress, under the signature 
of a freeman, in which he stated the grievances of America, and 
drew up a bill of American rights. He published his charge to the 
grand jury in April 1776, which breathes all the spirit and energy 
of the mind, which knows the value of freedom and is determined 
to support it. Ramsay in his history has published this charge en- 
tire. His speech in the general assembly of South Carolina on the 
articles of the confederation was publislied in 1778. Several other 
productions of his pen appeared, explaining the injured rights of 



DRA. 257 

his country, and encouraging his fellow citizens to vindicate them. 
He also wrote a history of the American revolution, brought down 
to tlie year 1779, in three large volumes, which he intended to cor- 
i-ect and. publish, but was prevented by his death.— -iliz/^f?-, ii, 380 ; 
Ramsay^s revolution of S. CaYolina, i. 57, 61, 103. 

DRAYTON (William, ll. d.) judge of the federal court for* 
the district of South Carolina, was a native of that province, and 
was born in the year 1733. About the year 1747 he was placed 
under Thomas Corbett, esquire, an eminent lawyer. In 1750 he 
accompanied that gentleman to London, and entered into the middle 
temple, where he continued till 1754, at which time he returned to 
his native country. Though his abilities were confessedly gieat, 
he soon quitted the bar from disinclination to the practice of the 
law ; but about the year 1768 he was appointed chief justice in the 
province of East Florida. When the revolution commenced in 
1775 he fell under the suspicion of the governor, and was sus- 
pended by him. He however went to England, and was reinstated ; 
but on his return to St. Augustine was again suspended by governor 
Tonyn. In consequence of this he took his family with him to 
England in 1778 or 1779 in the hope of obtaining redress, but the 
distracted situation of affairs in America prevented him from ef- 
fecting his purpose. Soon after his return to America he was ap- 
pointed judge of the admiralty coin-t of South Carolina. In March 
1789 he was appointed associate justice of the state, but he resigned 
this office in October following, when he was made a judge under 
the federal government. He died in the beginning of June 1790, 
in the fifty eighth year of his age.— flc7-cf/e'a biog. did ; American 
museum.) viii. 82. 

DRINKER (Edward), remarkable for longevity, was born De* 
cember 24, 1680 in a pabin near the present comer of Walnut and 
•second streets in Philadelphia. His parents had removed to this 
place from Beverly in Massachusetts. The banks of the Delaware 
were inhabited at the time of his birth by Indians, and a few Swedes 
and Hollanders. At the age of twelve years he went to Boston, 
where he served an apprenticeship to a cabinet maker. In the 
year 1745 he returned to Philadelphia, where he lived till the time 
of his death. He was four times married and had eighteen children, 
all of whom were by his first wife. He died November 17, 1782, 
aged one hundred and two years. In his old age the powers of 
his mind were very little impaired. He remembered not only the 
incidents of his childhood, but the events of later years, and never 
told the same story twice, but to different persons. His eye sight 
failed him many years before his death, but his hearing was unim- 
paired ; and though his teeth had forsaken him for thirty years, his 
hardened gums well supplied their place. He enjoyed so uncom- 
mon a share of health, that he was never confined more than three 
days to his bed. He was sober and temperate. For the last twenty 



258 DUA. 

Ave years he drank twice every day a draught of weak toddy, mad«' 
of two table spoonfuls of spirits in half a pint of water ; but he 
was never known to be intoxicated. He was a man of an amiable 
character, and as old age had not curdled his blood, he continued to- 
the last uniformly cheerful and kind to every body. His religious 
principles were as stieady as his morals were pure. He attended 
public worship about thirty years in the presbyterian church under 
the reverend Dr. Sproat, and died in the fullest assurance of a 
h^ppy immortality. Mr. Drinker witnessed the most astonishing 
changes. He lived to see the spot, where he had picked black 
berries, and hunted rabbits, become the seat of a great city, the 
first in wealth in America. He saw ships of every size in those 
streams, where he had been used to see nothing larger than an In- 
dian canoe. He saw the first treaty between France and the inde- 
pendent States of America ratified upon the very spot, where he 
had seen William Penn ratify his first and last treaties with the In- 
dians. He had been the subject of seven crowned heads. At the 
commencement of the American revolution, he bought the uncon- 
stitutional acts of Great Britain, and gave them to his grandsons as 
proper materials for their kites. — Kev) and general biog. dictionary ;. 
Hardie ; Universal asylum.^ ii. 88 ; •'American museum, ii. 73 — 75. 

DUANE (Jam^s), judge of the district court for New York, 
was a member of the first congress from this state in 1774, and 
received his appointment of judge in October 1789. He was the' 
first mayor of New YorK after its recovery from the British. His 
death took place at Albany in February 1797. He published a law 
(fase. 

DUDLEY (Thomas), governor of Massachusetts, was born in 
Northampton, England, in 1574. After having been for some time 
in the army, his mind was impressed by religious truth, and he 
attached himself to the nonconformists. He came to Massachu- 
setts in 1630, as deputy governor, and was one of the founders and 
pillars of the colony. He was chosen governor in the years 1634, 
1640*, and 1^45. His zeal against heretics did not content itself 
\rith arguments, addressed to the understanding, and reproofs, aim- 
ed at the conscience ; but his intolerance was not singular in an 
age, when the principles of religious liberty were not understood. 
He died at Roxbury July 31, 1653, in the seventy seventh year of 
his age. He was a man of sound judgment, of inflexible integrity, 
of public spirit, and of strict and exemplary piety. — Morion, 150 ; 
Mather's magnolia, ii. 15 — 17; Mai's J^. E.\. 2QS\ Collect, hist, 
soc. vii. 1 1 ; x. 39 ; Hutchinson, i. 1 83 ; Wintnrofi, 36, 65, 203 ; Holmes' 
annals, i. 360. 

DUDLEY (Joseph), governor of Massachusetts, was the son of 
Che preceding, and was born September 23, 1 647. In his childhood, 
after his father's death, he was under the care of the reverend Mr. 
Allen of Dedham, who married his mother. He was graduated a" 



DUD. 259 

harvard college in 1665. He aftenvards entered into the service 
ot his country in the Indian war of 1673. In 1682 he went to 
England as an agent for the province. When the government was 
changed in 1686 he was appointed president of Massachusetts and 
•New Hampshire. His commission was received in May 1686. 
His authority was of short continuance, for Andros arrived at the 
close of the same year. He, however, was continued in the council, 
•and was appointed chief justice. In 1689 he went again to Eng- 
land, and in 1690 returned with a commission of chief justice of 
New York, and continued in this country three years. He was then 
eight years lieutenant governor of the isle of Wight. He was appoint- 
ed governor of Massachusetts by queen Ann, and arriving at Boston 
June 11, 1702, continiaed in the government till November 1715. 
He died at Roxbury April 2, 1720, in the seventy third year of his 
age. He possessed rare endowments, and was a singular honor to 
his country, being a man of leaiTiing and an accomplished gentle- 
man. He was a scholar, a divine, a philosopher, and a lawyer. As 
governor of Massachusetts, he was instructed to procure an act 
Tendering his salary and that of the lieutenant governor permanent. 
These instructions occasioned a controversy with the legislature, 
which lasted during the administration of Shute and others of his 
successors. He loved much ceremony in the government, and but 
little in the church, being attached to the congregational order. 
He was a sincere christian, whose virtues attracted general esteem, 
though in the conflict of political parties his character was fre- 
quently assailed. While in his family he devoutly addressed him- 
self to the supreme Being, he also Irequently prayed w^th his chil- 
dren separately for their everlasting welfare, and did not think it 
humbling to impart religious instruction to his servants. He was 
■ economical and dignified, and he applied himself with great diligence 
to the duties of his station.— Co/;?jn«'« fun. sermon ; Boston news 
letteryAfiril 4:, 1720 ; Hutchinson^\.2Z7y 340--345 ; ii. 213 ; Bcl- 
knafi's JV. H. i. 361 ; Holmes' amtals, i, 465 ; ii. 101 ; Minot's con- 
tinuation., i. 59. 

DUDLEY (Paul), chief justice of Massachusetts, was gradu- 
ated at- Harvard college in 1690, and was afterwards tutor in that 
seminary. He died at Roxbury January 21, 1751. He was a 
learned and pious man. From his regard to the interests of relig- 
ion and as a proof of his. attachment to the institution, in which he 
•was educated, he in his last will bequeathed to Harvard college one 
hundred pounds sterling, the interest of which was to be applied to 
the support of aii annual lecture to be preached in that college ; 
the first lecture to be for proving and explaining, and for the proper 
use and improvement of the principles of natural religion ; the 
second for the confirmation, illustration, and improvement of the 
great articles of the christian religion -, the third for detecting, 
t convicting, and exposing the idolatry and tyranny, the danjnaye 



260 DUF. 

heresies, the abominable superstilions, and faUil and various error* 
of the Romish church ; the fourth for maintaining, explaining, 
and proving the validity of the ordination of ministers, as the same 
hath been practised in New England from the first beginning of it. 
These subjects were successively to occupy the lecture, and he, 
who should be chosen for the last, was directed to be a sound, grave, 
experienced divine of at least forty years of age. A copy of each 
discourse is required to be left with the treasurer of the college. 
The trustees, appointed by judge Dudley, are the president of Har- 
vard college, the professor of divinity, the pastor of the first church 
in Cambridge, the senior tutor of the college, and the pastor of the 
first church in Roxbury. The first sermon on this foundation was 
preached by president Holyoke in May 1755. The second, and 
the first that was published, was delivered by the reverend Mr. 
Barnard in 1756. Mr. Dudley published an essay on the mer- 
chandise of slaves and souls of men, mentioned in Revelation xviii. 
13, with an application to the church of Rome. — Holmes' annals^ ii. 
187, 188 ; ji/ifiendix to Barnard's Dudleian lecture. 

DUFFIELD (George, d. d.), minister in Philadelphia, was 
born in October 1732. After he became a preacher, he was first 
settled in the town of Carlisle in Pennsylvania. In this place his 
zealous and incessant labors, through the influence of the divine 
Spirit, were made effectual to the conversion of many ; and his 
exertions and care were extended to destitute congregations in the 
neighborhood. So conspicuous was his benevolent activity, tliat the 
synod of New York, and Philadelphia appointed him as a mission- 
ary, and he accordingly in company with the reverend Mr. Beatty 
spent a year in visiting the frontiers. His talents at length drew 
him into a more public sphere, and placed him as pastor of the 
second presbyterian church in Philadelphia. His zeal to do good 
exposed him to the disease, of which he died February 2, 1790. 
Dr. Duffield possessed a vigorous mind, and was considerably dis- 
tinguished as a scholar. As his readiness of utterance was seldom 
equalled, he was enabled to preach with uncommon frequency. 
As he possessed an unconquerable firmness, he always adhered 
steadily to the opinions, which he had formed. In the late struggle 
■with Great Britain he was an early, and decided, and zealous friend 
of his country. But it was as a christian, that he was most conspic- 
uous, for the religion, which he preached, was exhibited in his own 
life. The spirit of the gospel tinctured his whole mind. It ren- 
dered him the advocate of the poor, and the friend of the friendless. 
He sought occasions of advancing the interests of religion and 
humanity. While he read the scriptures in the original languages, 
he was also thoroughly acquainted with the most approved systems 
of Calvinistic theology. No one was superior to him in acquaint- 
once with the various parts of the government and discipline of the 
presbyterian church. As a preacher he was in early life remark^- 



DUL. 261 

biy animated and popular, and his manner was always warm and 
forcible, and his insti'uctions always practical. Dwelling much on 
the great and essential doctrines of the gospel, he had a peculiar 
talent of touching the conscience, and impressing the heart. He 
published an account of his tour with the reverend Mr. Beatty along 
the frontiers of Pennsylvania ; a thanksgiving sermon for the 
restoration of peace, December 11, 1783. — Green's fun. sermon f 
Assembly's miss. mag. i. 553 — 556 j American 7nuseum.fyi\. 66 — 68. 

DULANEY (Daniel), an eminent counsellor of Maryland, 
resided at Annapolis and died at an early stage of the revolutionary 
Avar. He was considered as one of the most learned and accom- 
plished men in his profession, that our country ever pi'oduced. He 
made some publications on the controversy between America and 
(ireat Britain. The title of one of them is, considerations on the 
propriety of imposing taxes in the British colonies in North Amer- 
ica, 1766. — Miller's retrospect^ ii. 379. 

DUMMER (Jeremiah), an agent of Massachusetts in England, 
and a distinguished scholar, was a native of Boston, and was the grand- 
son of Richard Dummer, esquire, one of the principal settlers of 
Massachusetts, who died at Newbury. He was graduated at Har-^ 
vard college in 1699. While a member of this seminary, he vras 
preeminent for the brilliancy of his genius. His only competitor 
was Mr. John Bulkley, who surpassed him in solidity of judgment, 
but not in sprightliness of thought and wit. He soon afterwards 
went to Europe and spent a number of years in the university of 
Utrecht, where he received a doctor's degree. He then returned 
to New England, but finding no prospect of employment in this 
country, that would be agreeable to him, he went to England, where 
he arrived a little before the change of queen Ann's ministry. In 
1710 he was appointed agent of Massachusetts, and his services 
were important. Contrary to the expectation of his countrymen 
he devoted himself to the persons in power, and was an advocate of 
their measures. He was employed by lord Bolingbroke in some 
secret negotiations, and had assurances of promotion to a place of 
honor and profit ; but the death of the queen blasted all his hopes. 
If he had espoused a different side, it is thought, that his great 
talents might have elevated him to some of the highest offices. 
He died in 1739. Though upon the change of times he deserted 
his patron, lord Bolingbroke, in regard to politics ; it is said, that 
he adhered to his sentiments upon religion to the close of life. 
Few men exceeded him in quickness of thought, and in ease, delica- 
cy, and fluency in speaking and writing. He published disputatio 
theologica de Christi ad inferos descensu, quam, indulgente Triuno 
Numine, sub praesidio clar. £c celeber. viri, d. d. Herm. Witsii, 
&c. 4to, 1702 ; de jure Judaeorum sabbati brevis disquisitio, 4to, 
1703 ; dissertatio theologico — philologica, 4to, 1703 ; disputatio 
philosophica inaug. 4to, 1703 j a defence of the New England char? 



202 BUM. 

4ers, 172 I ; a letter to a noble lord concerning the expedition lo 
Canada. — Collect, hist. soc. x. 155 ; Hutc/iinsoti, ii. 187, i;55, 

DUMMER (Wilmam), lieutenant governor of Md^is^chusetts, 
received a commission for Uiis office at the time that Shute was appoint- 
ed governor in 1716. At the departure of Shute Januaiy 1, 1723. he 
was left at the head of the province, and he continued coiumander 
in chief till the arrival of Burnet in 1728. He was also commander 
in chief in the interval between lus death and the arrival ot Belcher. 
His administration is spoken of with great respect, and he is rep- 
resented as governed by a pure regard to the public good. The 
"war with the Indians was conducted with great skill, the Norridge- 
wocks being cut off in 1724. From the year 1730 Mr. Dummer 
iivcd chiefly in retirement for the remainder of his lite, selecting 
for his acquaintance and friends men of sense, virtue, and religion, 
ami receiving the blessings and applauses of his country. He died 
at Boston October 10, 1761, aged eighty two years. He preserved 
en unspotted character through life. Though he enjoyed fatne, he 
tlid not place his happiness in the distinctions of this world. He 
was sincerely and firmly attached to the religion of Jesus, and in 
the midst of human grandeur he was preparing for death. In 
health and sickness he often declared, that his hope of the divine 
acceptance was built upon the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ, 
whom he adored as the true God and the only Savior of men. He 
attended with reverence upon the institutions of the gospel ; he 
was constant in his family devotions ; he applied himself to the 
perusal of pious books ; and at stated times he retired to his closet 
for prayer. During his life his alms were a memorial of his be- 
iievolence, and at death he left a great part of his estate to pious 
and charitable uses. He laid the foundation of Dummer academy 
at Newbury. — Byles' fun. sermon ; Boston Gazette., October 26, 
4761 ; Hutchinson, ii. 291, 322, 368 ; Holmes' annuls, ii. 255. 

DUNSTER (Henry), first president of Harvard college, Ava« 
inducted into this office August 27, 1640. He succeeded Mr. Na- 
thaniel Eaton, who was the first master of the seminary, being 
«hosen in 1637 or 1638, and who had been removed on account of 
the severity of his discipline. He was highly respected for his 
learning, piety, and spirit of govcrnmrnt ; but having at length 
imbibed the principles of antipedobaptism, and publicly advo- 
cated them, he was induced to resign the presidentship October 
24, 1654, and was succeeded by the reverend Mr. Chauncy. He 
now retired to Scituate, where he spent the remainder of his days 
in peace. He died in 1 659. He was a modest, humble, charitable 
■man. By his last will he ordered his body to be buried at Cam- 
bridge, and bequeathed legacies to the vcrv persons, who had occa- 
sioned his removal from xhr college. He was a great master of 
Ihc oriental languages, an<I wb.on a new version of the psalms had 
been made by Eliot, Wcldc, and Mather, and printed in 1640, it 



DYE. 265 

was put into his hands to be revised. He accordingly, with the as- 
sistance of Mr. Richard Lyon, improved the version, and brought 
it into that state, in which the churches of New England used it for 
many subsequent years. — Mather's magnalia, iii. 99 — 101 ; iv. 128 j 
JKeara JV. E. i. 308 ; H. Adams' J^. E. 73 ; Hutchin&ov, \. 174; 
Collect, hist, society^ vii. 20, 48, 49 ; Holmes' annals, i. 375 ; Mor* 
ton, 170. 

DYER (Eliphalet), chief justice of the supreme court of 
Connecticut, was a member of the first congress in 1774, and con- 
tributed his efforts with other patriots in promoting and supporting 
the independence of his country. He died at Windham May 13, 
1807, in the eighty , seventh year of his age. — Alw York herald^. 
May 23, 1807. 

EATON ^Theophilus), first governor of New Haven colony- 
was born at Stony Stratford in Oxfoixlshire, his father being the 
minister of the place. He was bred a merchant and was for several 
years agent of the king of England at the court of Denmark ; and 
after his retui'n prosecuted his business in London with high repu- 
tation. He accompanied Mr. Davenport to New England in 1637,^ 
and soon after his arrival was chosen one of the magistrates of 
Massachusetts. He was one of the founders of New Haven in 
1638, and was annually elected governor till his death, January 7, 
1 657, in the sixty sei-enth year of his age. The wisdom and integ- 
rity of his administration attracted universal respect. As a magis- 
trate, he was impartial in the distribution of justice, and was in- 
vested with an indescribable dignity and majesty. He was amiable 
in all the relations of life. In conversation he was affable, courteous, 
and pleasant, but always cautious, and grave on proper occasions. 
Though his family was sometimes very numerous, it was under 
the most perfect government. All the members of it were assem- 
bled morning and evening, and the governor, after reading the 
scriptures, and making useful observations upon them, addressed 
himself to heaven with the greatest reverence and pertinency. On 
the s.ibbath and on other days of public devotion he spent an hour 
or two with his family, giving them instruction in religious truth 
and duty, recommending to them tht study of the scriptures, and 
the practice of secret prayer. He v;as beloved by his domestics, 
and ever preserved the esteem of the commonwealth. His monu- 
ment, erected at the public expense, and which remains to the pres- 
ent day, har. upon it the following lines. 

Ea\on, so meek, so fam'd, so just, 
The pne lix of our world, here hides his dust j 
This name forget. New England never must. — .Years JV. 
England, i, 318 ; Trumbull's Connecticut, i. 90, 240 ; Holmos' an- 
naif, i. 371 ; Doutrlass, ii. 160. 

EDWARDS (Ttmothy), first minister of East Windsor, Con- 
necticut, was graduated at Harvard college in 1694, and wasordainee! 



264 EDW. 

in the following year. In 1655 he received the reverend Joseph 
Perry as his colleague. After a ministry of sixty three years, he 
died January 27, 1758, in the eighty ninth year of his age. He 
married a daughter of the reverend Mr. Stoddard of Northampton, 
and he lived to see his son, the famous Jonathan Edwards, the most 
distinguished divine in America. He was univereally esteemed, 
and was an upright, pious, and exemplary man, and a faithful and 
successful preacher of the gospel. He published an election ser- 
mon, 1732. — Life of Jonathan Jidtvards ; Collect, hist. soc. v. 169. 
EDWARDS (Jonathan), president of the college in New 
Jersey, and a most acute metaphysician, and distinguished divine, 
was the son of the preceding, and was born at Windsor, Connecti- 
cut, October 5, 1703. He was educated at Yale college, and took 
the degree of bachelor of arts in 1720 before he was seventeen 
years of age. His uncommon genius discovered itself early, and 
while yet a boy he read Locke on the human understanding with a 
keen relish. Though he took much pleasure in examining the 
kingdom of nature ; yet moral and theological researches yielded 
him the highest satisfaction. He lived at college near two years after 
taking his first degree, preparing himself for the office of a minister 
of the gospel. In 1722 he went to New York, at the request of a 
small society of English presbyterians, and preached a number of 
months. In 1724 he was appointed a tutor in Yale college, and he 
continued in that office, till he was invited in 1726 to preach at 
Northampton, Massachusetts. Here he was ordained as colleague 
with his grandfather, the reverend Mr. Stoddard, February 15, 
1727. In 1735 his benevolent labors were attended with very un- 
common success ; a general impression was made upon the minds 
of his people by the truths, which he proclaimed ; and the church 
was much enlarged. He continued in this place more than twenty 
three years till he was dismissed in 1750. The circumstances, 
which led to his dismission, were the following. Mr. Edwards, 
being informed of immoralities, in which some young persons, 
who were connected with the church, indulged themselves, 
thought that an inquiry should be made into their conduct. The 
ohurch readily acknowledged the importance of strict discipline, 
and entered into the plan ; but when the names of the persons ac- 
cused were known, and it was found, that members of the principal 
families in the town were implicated, it was impossible to proceed. 
There were few in his church, who continued their zeal for disci- 
pline, when they perceived, that it would enter their own houses ; 
and the hands of the immoral were strengthened by this defeat of 
an attempt to correct their errors and to bring them to repentance. 
After this event, which took place in 1744, Mr. Edwards' useful- 
ness in Northampton was almost destroyed. A secret dislike was 
excited in the minds of many, and it was soon blown into a flame. 
When he was settled in this town, he was not perfectly convinced 



EDW. mS 

bf the correctness of the principle, which was supported by his col- 
league, the reverend Mr. Stoddard, that unconverted persons had a 
right in the sight of God to the sacrament of the Lord's supper. 
After diligent inquiry he was convinced, that the principle was erro- 
neous, and dangerous. His investigations led him to believe, that 
•*he supper was instituted for the true disciples of Jesus Christ ; 
that none but such could have a right to it ; and that none but those, 
who were considered as such, should be permitted to partake of it. 
Adopting these sentiments, he had the courage to avow them. He 
considered it as an inviolable duty ever to vindicate the truth. Ho 
knew the zeal of his people for their loose principles, and expected 
to see that zeal bursting upon him, if he should dare to stand for* 
ward in opposition to their long continued practice. He anticipated 
a dismission from Northampton, and a deprivation of the means of 
support. But in the full view of these consequences, he openly 
avowed his change of sentiment, cheerfully sacrificing every world- 
ly interest to promote the purity of the church and the glory of the 
Redeemer. The evils, which he anticipated, came upon him. He 
was driven away in disgrace from a people, who once would almost 
have plucked out their eyes, and given them to him. They would not 
even hear him in his vindication. Mr. Edwards had been instrumental 
in cheering many hearts with the joys of religion, and not a few had 
regarded him with all that affectionate attachment, which is excited 
by the love of excellence and the sense of obligations, which can 
never be repaid. But a spirit of detraction had gone forth, and a 
few leading men of outrageous zeal pushed forward men of less de- 
termined hostility ; and in the hopeless prospect of conciliation he 
was dismissed by an ecclesiastical council June 22, 1750. 

In this scene of trouble and abuse, when the mistakes and the 
bigotry of the multitude had stopped their ears, and their passions 
were without control, Mr. Edwards exhibited the truly christian 
spirit. His calmness, and meekness, and humility, and yet firmness 
and resolution were the subjects of admiration to his friends. More 
anxious for his people, than for himself, he preached a most solemn 
and affecting farewell discourse. He afterwards occasionally suppli- 
ed the pulpit at times, when no preacher had been procured ; but 
this proof of his superiority to resentment or pride, and this readi- 
ness to do good to those, who had injured him, met with no return, 
except a vote of the inhabitants, prohibiting him from ever again 
preaching for them. Still he was not left without excellent friends 
in Northampton, and his correspondents in Scotland, having been in- 
formed of his dismission, contributed a considerable sum for the 
maintenance of his family. 

In August 1751 he succeeded the reverend Mr, Sergeant as mis- 
sionary to the Houssatonnoc Indians at Stockbridge in Berkshire 
county, Massachusetts. Here he continued six years, preaching to 
the Indians and the white people ; and as he found much leisure he 



26G EDW. 

prosecuted his theological and metaphysical studies, and product 
works, which rendered his natue famous throughout Europe. Thus 
was his calamitous removal from Northampton the occasion, unjer 
the wise providence of God, of his imparting to the world the most 
important instructions, whose influence has been extending, and 
whose good effects may still be felt for ages. In January 1758 he 
reluctantly accepted the office of president of the college in NesY 
Jersey, us successor of his son in law, tlic reverend Mr. Burr ; but 
he h.id not entered fully upon the duties of this station, before the 
prevalence of the small pox induced him to be inoculated, and tJii* 
disease was the cause of bis death March 22, 1758, in the frfty filth 
year of his age. A short time before he died, as some of his friends, 
who surrounded his bed to see him breathe his last, were lamenting 
the loss, which the college would s'lstain, he said, to their astonish- 
ment, " trust in God, and ye need not fear." These were his last 
words. He afterwards expired with as much composure, as if he 
had only fallen asleep. He was succeeded by the reverend Mr. Da- 
vies. 

President Edwards was distinguised not only for the astonishing 
vigor and penetration of his mind, but for his christian virtues. At 
a very early period of his life he was much affected by the truths of 
religion, and used several times in a day to address himself to heav- 
en in secret prayer, and to assemble for religious conversation and 
devotion with boys of his own age. But at length he returned to a 
state of negligence and forgetfulness of God. He no longer ad- 
dressed his prayer to the Lord, his Maker. The pleasure, which 
he had enjoyed in religious duties, he afterwards believed to have 
originated in selfish views and hopes, and not to have been founded 
in a correct knowledge of the truth. Soon after he left college, 
however, a deep sense of his sin was imparted to him ; he beheld 
2 new glory in the character of God and in the doctrines of the gos- 
pel; and a view of the way of salvation by a crucified Redeemer fill- 
ed him wilii inexpressible joy. Those doctrir.cs, which he had 
formerly opposed, and regarded with horror, now uispired him with 
delight. Such were his conceptions of the wisdom and excellence 
of the Most High, that he found a real pleasure in ascribing to him 
an absolute sovereignty in the disposal of his creatures, in choosing 
whom he would to eternal life, and rejecting whom he pleased, for 
the display of his glory. Of the certainty of this doctrine he felt as 
much assured, as of the existence uf any object, which was present- 
ed to his sight. The character of Jesus Christ now yielded him sat- 
isfaction, which he had never before known. The excellence, upon 
whic'i he fixed his thoughts, was communicated to him ; and he was 
moulded in'o the glorious image, which was so constantly in his eye. 
His life of integrity, of humility, of meekness, of benevolence, of pi- 
ety* of :hristian courage, and of zeal directed by the meekness of 
wisdom, gives full evidence, that his religion was the religion af 



EDW. 267 

C'hrist. His highest and sweetest joys, he remarked, did not spring 
from the hope, that he was in a state of salvation, nor from the con- 
sciousness of any excellence in himself, but from a direct view of 
the precious truths of the gospel. No one could be more deeply 
humbled under a sense of tlie iniquity of his heart, and of his impo- 
tence to what is good. This conviction led him to distrust himself, 
to rely only upon the grace of God, and to ascribe every thing to in- 
finite mercy. 

In the various relations of life his character was unimpeached. 
The benevolent principles, which he had embraced, taught him to 
do good, and while he inculcated charity upon others, he himself 
gave much to the poor. He seldom visited his people, except in 
sickness or affliction, not having remarkable talents in conversation, 
and believing that he should be more useful in his study. Yet he 
was not austere and unsociable, but easy of access, kind, and conde- 
scending. To his friends he opened himself without reserve. He 
gave no encoui'agement in his conversation to evil speaking and 
folly, nor was he fond of disputes, though, when called upon, he 
would express his opinion, and Cidmly vindicate his sentiments. 
He preferred managing a controversy with his pen in his hand. 
Though his constitution was delicate, he commonly spent thirteen 
hours every day in his study. He usually rose between four and 
,five in the morning, and was abstemious, living completely by rule. 
For exercise, he would in t\\e winter take an axe and chop wood for 
half an hour; and in the summer would walk or ride on horseback 
two or three miles to some retired grove. Here his ever active 
mind was still occupied in religious meditation and devotion, or in 
study. Having his pen and ink with him, he recorded every strik- 
ing thought, that occurred. All his researches indeed were pur- 
sued with his pen in his hand, and the number of his miscellaneous 
writings, which he left behind him, was above fourteen hundred. 
They were all numbered and paged, and an index was formed for 
the whole. He was peculiarly happy in his domestic connexions, 
for Mrs. Edwards by taking the entire care of his temporal concerns 
gave him an opportunity of consecrating all his powers, without in- 
terruption, to the labors and studies of the sacred office. 

As a preacher he was not oratorical in his manner, and his voice 
was rather feeble, though he spoke with distinctness ; but his dis- 
courses were rich in thought, and being deeply impressed himself 
witli tlie truths, which he uttered, his preaching came home to the 
hearts of his hearers Though he usually wrote his sermons with 
great care and read his notes, yet when in the delivery a new 
thought sti-uck him, he was not so shackled, but that he would ex- 
press it, and his extemporary eff'usions were frequenly the most in- 
teresting and useful parts of his discourses. Towards the close of 
life he was inclined to think, that it would have been better, if he had 
never used his notes at all. He advised the young preacher to com^ 
mit his sermons to memory. 



2C8 EDW. 

Mr. Edwards was uncommonly zealous and persevcriiig in his 
search after truth. He spared no pams in procuring the necessary 
aids, and he read all the books, which he could procure, tliat prom- 
ised to afford him assistance in his inquiries. He confined himself 
to no particular sect or denomination, but studied the writings of 
men, whose sentiments were the most opposite to his own. But the 
bible claimed his peculiar attention. From that book he derived 
his religious principles, and not from any human system. The 
doctrines, which he supported, were Calvinistic, and when these 
doctrines were in any degree relinquished, or were not embraced in 
their whole length and breadth, he did not see where a man could set 
his foot down, with consistency and safety, short of deism or atheism 
itself. Yet with all his strict adherence to what he believed to be 
the truths of heaven, his heart was kind and tender. When Mr. 
Whitefield preached for him on the sabbath, the acute divine, whose 
mighty intellect has seldom been equalled, wept as a child during 
the whole sermon. 

His essay on the freedom of the will is considered as one of the 
greatest efforts of the human mind. Those, who embrace the Cal- 
vmistic sentiments, think that he has forever settled the controver- 
sy with the Arminians by demonstrating the falsity and absurdity 
of their principles. His other works, which are most celebrated, arc 
his book on original sin in answer to Taylor, his treatise on the affec- 
tions, his dissertation on the nature of true virtue, and that on the end, 
for which God created the world. A splendid edition of his works is 
now publishing in England, and an edition in 8 volumes, 8vo, which 
is intended to be a complete collection of his writings, is in the press 
at Worcester, Massachusetts, under the care of the reverend Dr. 
Austin, and will be published in the course of the year 1809. 

The following is a catalogue of his publications ; a sermon 
preached at Boston on 1 Corinth, i. 29,30, 1731 ; a sermon preach- 
ed at Northampton on Matt. xvi. 17, 1734 ; a narrative of the work 
of God in the conversion of many hundred of souls in Northampton, 
1736; five discourses on justification by faith alone, pressing into 
the kingdom of God, Ruth's resolution, the justice of God in the 
damnation of sinners, and the excellency of Jesus Christ, 1738 ; sin- 
ners in the hands of an angry God, a sermon preached at Enfield, 
1741 ; a sermon on the distinguishing marks of a work of the Spirit 
of God, 1741 ; thoughts on the revival of religion, 1742 ; a sermon 
at the ordination of the reverend Robert Abercrombie, 1744; at the 
instalment of the reve.'cnd Samuel Buell, 1746 ; a treatise on relig- 
ious affections, 1746 ; an attempt to promote agreement in prayer 
for the revival of religion, 1746 ; life of the reverend David Brai- 
nerd, 1749; an inquiry into the qualifications for full communion 
in the church, 1749 ; a reply to the reverend Solomon Williams' 
answer to the inquiry, 1752 ; a sermon preached at Newark, 1752 ; 
p.n inquiry into the modern prevailing notions of that freedom of 



EDW. 269 

will, which is supposed to be essential to moral agency, &c., 1754 ; 
the great doctrine of original sin defended, 1758. Since his death 
the following works have been published from his manuscripts ; 
eighteen sermons, with his life, written by the reverend Dr. Hop- 
kins, 1765 ; the history of redemption, 1774 ; on the nature of true 
virtue, 1788 ; God's last end in the creation ; thirty three sermons ; 
twenty sermons, 1789; miscellaneous observations, 1793; miscel- 
laneous remarks, \79&.-— -Ho fikins' life of Edivards ; life prefixed tfi 
his works ; Middleton's biografihia evangelica, iv. 294 — 317. 

EDWARDS (Jonathan, D. D.), president of Union college at 
Schenectady, in the state of New York, was the son of the preced- 
ing. He was born at Northampton, Massachusetts, June 6, 1745. 
In childhood an inflammation in his eyes prevented him from learn- 
ing to read till an uncommonly late period. He was but six years 
old, when he was removed to Stockbridge, and here there was no 
school, but one, which was common to the Indian children and the 
children of white parents. Of the latter there were so few, that he 
was in danger of forgetting the English tongue. Here, whilst at 
school, he learned the language of the Mohekaneew or Stockbridge 
Indians so perfectly, that the natives frequently observed, that " he 
spoke exactly like an Indian." This language he retained in a good 
degree through life, and he published some interesting remarks upon 
it a number of years before his death. His father intended him for 
a missionary among the aborigines, and in accordance with this plan 
sent him in October 175 5, when he was ten years of age, with the 
reverend Gideon Hawley to Oughquauga on the Susquehannah riv- 
er, to learn the language of the Oneida Indians. This place was 
in the wilderness about a hundred miles from any English settle- 
ment. He remained at Oughquauga but four months in conse- 
quence of the war between England and France, which now extend- 
ed itself to the colonies. During this short time he miade rap- 
id progress in acquiring the language of the natives, and in en- 
gaging their affections. They were so much attached to him, that, 
when they thought their settlement Avas exposed to inroads from 
the French, they took him upon their shoulders, and carried him 
many miles through the wilderness to a place of security. 

He was graduated at the college in New Jersey in 1765. Two 
years before this event, at a time when the students of the college 
were generally impressed by the truths of religion, he was blessed 
with the hope of his reconciliation to God through Christ. This 
was during the presidentship and under the impressive preaching 
of the reverend Dr. Finley. He afterwards pursued the study of 
divinity under the instruction of the reverend Dr. Bellamy, and in 
October 1766 was licensed to preach the gospel by the associaticn 
of ministers in the county of Litchfield in Connecticut. In 1767 
he was appointed tutor of Princeton college, and in this office he re- 
mained two years. He was ordained pastor of the church at White 



270 EDW. 

Haven in the town of New Hciven January 5, 1769, and continued 
there till May 1795, when he was dismissed by an ecclesiastical 
council at his own request and the request oi his society. Some of 
the leading men of his parish had embraced rcli;^ious sentiments of 
a different stamp from those, which were formerly professed, and 
which Dr. Edwards believed to be true ; and this circumstance was 
the principal cause of his dismission, though an inability on the part 
of the society to give him support was the most prominent reason 
assigned for this event. In January 1796 he was installed pastor of 
the church at Colebrook in Litchfield county. In this retired situa- 
tion, where he w<is enabled to pursue his theological studies with 
little interruption, he hoped to spend the remainder of his days. But 
in June 1799 he was elected president ot the college, which had 
been recently establislied at Schenectady, as successor of the reve- 
rend Mr. Smith. In July he commenced the duties of the office. 
From this time his attention and talents were devoted to the con- 
cerns of the seminary, of which he was entrusted with the charge. 
Ho died August 1, 1801, in the fifty seventh year of his age. 

There was a number of remarkable coincidencies in the lives of 
Dr. Edwards and his father. Both were tutors in the seminaries, in 
^hich they were educated, were dismissed on account oi their relig- 
ious opinions, were settled again in retired situations, were elected 
to the presidentship of a college, and in a short time after they were 
inaugurated, died at near the same age. They were also remarkr 
bly similar in person dnd character. 

Dr. Edwards was a man of uncommon powers of mind. He has 
seldom been surpassed in acutcness and penetration. His answer 
to Dr. Chauncy, his dissertation on the liberty of the will in reply to 
Dr. West, and his sermons on the atonement of Christ are consid- 
«red as works of great and peculiar merit. As a preacher, in his 
jiianner of delivery he was bold and animated ; but he addressed the 
understanding and conscience rather, than the passions of his audi- 
ence. A mind like his could not in the progress of discussion lose 
sight of its subject. His thoughts were well arranged and his ar- 
guments strong and convincing. He was by nature of an irritable 
disposition } but, conscious of his infirmity, he made it the business 
of his life to subdue it, and he was successful. Under many trying 
circumstances his equanimity was conspicuous. In prosperity and 
adversity he was the same, always sensible of his dependence upon 
God, always acquiescing in his will, and confiding in his mercy. la 
his habits he was very regular. His exercise, his studies, and all his 
concerns were as systematic as possible. He generally rose early 
and his first thouglUs were directed towards his almighty Creator 
and Friend, to whom in early life he had consecrated the powers of 
his mind, his improvements, his possessions, his time, his infliiencc, 
and all the means of doi'< >; good, which should be put into his 
bands. At the age of eighteen he began a diary of his religious 



ELL 27i 

life. This he continued for a few months and then ahrnptly relin- 
quished it, but for what reason it is not known. In the earlyjstages 
of his last illness, when he retained his reason and the power of 
speech, he expressed his entire resignation to the pleasure of God. 
In his death an extensive acquaintance lamented the fall of oneof th« 
firmest pillars of the church. 

He published a work,entitled,the salvation of all men strictly exam- 
ined Sec. in answer to Dr. Chauncy ; a dissertation on liberty and neces- 
sity ; observations on the language of the Mohckaneew or Stockbridge 
Indians, communicated to the Connecticut society of arts and sciences, 
and published at the request of the society ; brief observations on the 
doctrine of universal salvation ; three sermons on the atonement ; 
sermons at the ordination of the reverend Timothy Dwight of 
Greenfield, 1783; at the ordination of the reverend Dan Bradley, 
Hamden, 1792 ; at the ordination of the reverend W. Brown, Glas- 
tonbury, 1792 J at the ordination of the reverend Edward Dorr 
Griffin, Ncav Hartford, 1795 ; a sei'mon on the injustice and impoli- 
cy of the slave trade, 1791 ; human depravity the source of infidel- 
ity, a senuon in the American preacher, ii ; marriage of a wife's sis- 
ter considered in the anniversary concio ad clerum in the chapel of 
Yale college, 1792; a sermon on the death ot Roger Sherman, 
1793 ; election sermon, 1794 ; a sermon on a future state of exist- 
ence and the immortality of the soul, printed in a volume, entitled, 
sermons collected 8cc. ; a farewell sermon to the people of Cole- 
brook ; and a number of excellent pieces, signed I and O, in the 
New York theological magazine. He also edited from the manu- 
scripts of his father, the history of the work of redemption, two 
volumes of sermons, and two volumes of observations on important 
theological subjects.— -Connecticut evangelical 7nagazine, ii. 377— 
383; Edwards' works, English edition, i. 103 — 119; Miller, ii, 
453. 

ELIOT (John), minister of Roxbury, Massachusetts, usually 
called the apostle of the Indians, was born in England in 1604. His 
pious parents early imparted to him religious instruction, and it was 
not without effect. After receiving his education at the university 
of Cambrige, he was for some time the instructer of youth. In 1631 
he came to this country, and arriving at Boston harbor November 
third, immediately joined the church in that town, and preached to 
them, as Mr. Wilson, their minister, was then in England. Here 
he was earnestly requested to remain, but he was settled as teacher 
of the church in Roxbury November 5, 1632. In the following 
year Mr. Welde was ordained as rtJs colleague, with the title of pas- 
tor. These two ministers lived together in much harmony. In 
1737 they both opposed the wild notions of Mi's. Hutchinson, and 
were both witnesses against her at her trial. In 1639 they were ap- 
pointed with Mr. Richard Mather of Dorchester to make a new ver- 
«?isn of the psalms, which was printed in the following year. For 



272 ELI. 

tuneful poetry it would not perhaps yield the palm even to that of 
Sternhold and Hopkins ; but it did not give perfect satisfaction. 
The reverend Mr. Shepard of Cambridge thus addressed the trans* 
lators. 

Ye Roxbury poets, keep clear of the crime 

Of missing to give us very good rhyme ; 

And you of Dorchester, your verses lengthen, 

But with the text's own words you will them strengthen. 
The New England psalms were afterwards revised and improved by 
president Dunster, and they have passed throvigh twenty editions. 
In 1641 Mr. Welde returned to England. Mr. Eliot's other col- 
leagues in the ministry were the reverend Mr. Danforth and Mr. 
Walter. 

His benevolent labors were not confined to his own people. Hav- 
ing imbibed the true spirit of the gospel, his heart was touched 
with the wretched condition of the Indians, and he became eagerly 
desirous of making them acquainted with the glad tidings of salva- 
tion. There were at the time, when he began his missionary ex- 
ertions, near twenty tribes of Indians within the limits of the Eng- 
lish planters. But they were very similar in manners, language, 
and religion. Having learned the barbarous dialect he first preach- 
ed to an assembly of Indians at Nonantum, in the present town of 
Newton, October 28, 1646. After a short prayer he explained the 
commandments, described the character and sufferings of Christ, the 
judgment day and its consequences, and exhorted them to receive 
Christ as their Savior, and to pray to God. After the sermon was 
finished, he desired them to ask any questions, which might have 
occurred. One immediately inquired, whether Jesus Christ could 
understand prayers in the Indian language ? Another asked, how all 
the world became full of people, if they were all once drowned ? A 
third question was, how there could be the image of God, since it 
was forbidden in the coninnandment ? He preached to them a second 
time November eleventh, and some of them wept while he was ad- 
dressing them. An old man asked, with tears in his eyes, whether 
it was not too late for him to repent and turn unto God ? Among the 
other inquiries were these, how it came to pass, that sea water was 
salt and river water fresh ; how the English came to differ so much 
from the Indians in the knowledge of God and Jesus Chi'ist, since 
they all at first had but one father ; and why, if the water is larger 
than the earth, it does not overflow the earth ? He was violently op- 
posed by the sachems and pawaws, or priests, who were apprehen- 
sive of losing their authoritj'? if a new religion wus introduced. 
When he was alone with them in the wilderness, they threatened 
him with every evil, if he did not desist from his labors ; but he was 
a man not to be shaken in his purpose by the fear of danger. He 
said to them, " I am about the work of the great God, and my God 
is with mc ; so that I neither fear you, nor all the sachems in tl.c 



ELL 273 

country } 1 will go on, and do you touch me, if you dare." With 
a body capable of enduring fatigue, and a mind firm as the mountain 
oaks, which surrounded his path, he went from place to place, rely- 
ing for protection upon the great Head of the church, and declaring 
the salvation of the gospel to the children of darkness. His be- 
nevolent zeal prompted him to encounter with cheerfulness the 
most terrifyuig dangers, and to submit to the most incredible hard- 
ships. He says in a letter, " I have not been dry, night or day, 
from the third day of the week unto the sixth ; but so travelled, and 
at night pull off my boots, wring my stockings, and on with them 
again, and so continue. But God steps in and helps. I have consid- 
ered the word of God, 1 Tim. ii. 3, endure hardship as a good sold- 
ier of Jesus Christ." He made a missionary tour every fortnight, 
planted a number of churches, and visited all the Indians in Mas- 
sachusetts and Plymouth colonies, pursuing his way as far as cape 
Cod. In 1651 an Indian town was built on a pleasant spot on 
Charles' river, and called Natick. A house of worship was erect- 
ed, and a form of government was established similar to that, which 
is mentioned in Exodus xviii. 21. Mr. Eliot was convinced, that 
in order to the most permanent success it was necessary to intro- 
duce with Christianity the arts of civilized life. He accordingly 
made every exertion to persuade the Indians to renounce their sav- 
age customs and habits ; but he never could civilize those, who went 
out in hunting parties, and those, who lived near ponds and rivers, 
and were occupied in fishing or cultivating the ground, though their 
condition was much in)proved, could never be made equally indus- 
trious with the English. The first Indian church, established by the 
labors of protestants in America, was formed at Natick in 1660 after 
the manner of the congregational churches in New England. Those, 
who wished to be organized into a christian body, were strictly exam- 
ined as to their faith and experience by a number of the neighbor- 
ing ministers, and Mr. Eliot afterwards administered to them bap- 
tism and the Lord's supper. Other Indian churches were planted in 
various parts of Massachusetts, and he frequently visited them ; 
but his pastoral care was more particularly over that, which he first 
established. He made every exertion to promote the welfare of the 
Indian tribes ; he stimulated many servants of Jesus to engage in 
the missionary work ; and although he mourned over the stupidity 
of many, who preferred darkness to light, yet he lived to see twen- 
ty four of the copper colored aborigines fellow preachers of the 
precious gospel of Christ. In 1661 he published the New Testa- 
ment in the Indian language, and in a few years the whole bible, and 
several other books, best adapted for the instruction of the natives. 
He possessed an influence over the Indians, which no other mission- 
ary could obtain. He was their shield in 1675 during Philip's war, 
when some of the people of Massachusetts, actuated by the most 
irtfuriate spirit, intended to have destroyed them. He suffci^ed eve- 
35 



'274, ELI. 

ry abuse for his triendship to them, but nothing could quench the 
divine charity, which glowed in his heart. His firmness, his zeal, 
his benevolence at tiiis period increased the pure lustre of his char- 
acter. When he reached the age ol' fourscore years, he offered to 
give up his salary, and desired to be liberated from the labors of his 
office, as teacher of the church at Roxbury. It was with joy, that 
he received Mr. Walter as his colleague in 1688. When he was 
bending under his iiilirmities and could no longer visit the Indians, 
he persuaded a numbei- oi families to send their negro servants to 
hiin once a week, u<.i\t he might instruct them i.i the truths of God. 
He died May 20, 1690, aged abo\it eighty six years, saying, that all 
his labors were poor and small, and exhorting those, who surround- 
ed his bed, to pray. Kis last words were, " welcome joy." 

Mr. Eliot was one of the most usciul preachers in New England. 
No minister saw his exertions attended with greater effects. He 
spoke from the abundance of his heart, and his sermons, being free 
from that labored display of learning, tVom the quibbles and quaint 
turns, mth which most discourses were at that time intected, were 
acceptable in all the churches. So much was he enacared to his 
own people, that they continued his salary after he had offered to 
resign it, and when he WdS unable to preach ; and the youth were in 
the habit of visiting him, calling him their father and friend. Such 
attentions chased away the gloom, which usually hangs over the 
head of the aged, and cheered the evening of his life. 

His moral and religious character was as excellent, as his minis- 
terial ciualificalions were great. He carried his good principles 
with him in every situation, viewing all things in reference to God. 
He habitually lifted up his heart for a blessing upon every person, 
whom he met, and when he went into a family, he would sometimes 
call tlie youth to him, that he might lay his hands upon them, and 
give them his benediction. Such was his charity, that he gave to 
the poor Indians most of his salary of fifty pounds, which he re- 
ceived annually from the society for propagating the gospel. In his 
manner of living he was very simple. One plain dish was his re- 
past at home, and when he dined abroad, he seldom tasted any of the 
luxuries before him. He drank water ; and said of wine, " it is a 
noble, generous liquor, and we should be humbly thankful for it, but, 
as I remember, water was made before it." Clothing himself with 
humility, he actually wore a leathern girdle about his loins. In do- 
mestic life he was peculiarly happy. By the prudent management 
of his wife, who looked well to the ways of her household, he was 
enabled to be generous to his friends, and hospitable to strangers, 
and with a small salary to educate four sons at Cambridge, of whom 
John and Joseph, minii.ters of Newton and of Guilford, were the 
best preachers of that age. 

In his principles of church government he was attached to the 
congregational order. Yet he contended earnestly for frequent syn- 



ELI. 275 

ods or councils, as necessary for the preservation of union, for the 
suppression of dangerous opinions and heresies, for the correction 
of abuses, and the healin^j of divisions. He tiiought, that every 
particular church should have rulint^ elders to assist the minister in 
the duties of government and insiruction. In his admission" to the 
church, lie required of the candidates some evidence, that they 
were truly Christians, renewed in their hearts by the Spirit of God. 
He withstood the attempts, which were made, to change the old 
practice of giving a relation of the work of divine grace, which 
practice in his view honored the Savior, and produced an intimate 
union among his disciples. He could not in conscience give the cup 
of the Lord to any one, who did not give some evidence of being 
a sincere Christian. 

With all his excellencies he had some singularities and strange 
notions. He had a most deep rooted prejudice against wigs. He 
preached againstj the custom of wearing them ; he prayed against 
it ; he attributed to it the evils, which overwhelmed the country. 
He thought, as Dr. Cotton Mather, who himself wore a wig, informs 
us, " that for men to wear theirihair with a luxurious, delicate, fem- 
inine prolixity, or to disfigure themselves with hair, which was none 
of their own, but above all for ministers of the gospel to ruffle it in 
excesses of this kind" was an enormous sin. But fashion would 
bear sway, notwithstanding his remonstrances, and he finally ceased 
to complain, saying, " the lust is become insuperable." His prej- 
udice against tobacco was as strong as his aversion to wigs ; but in 
contempt of all his admonitions the hairless head would be adorned 
with curls of foreign growth, and the pipe would send up volumes 
of smoke. In his old age, not long before his death, he used to say 
that he was shortly going to heaven, and would carry a deal of good 
news with him ; he would carry tidings to the old founders of New 
England, that our churches still remained, find that their number 
was continually increasing. So remarkable was he for his charities, 
that the parish treasurer, when he once paid him the money due for 
his salary, tied the ends of a handkerchief, into which he put it, in 
as many hard knots as he could, to prevent him from giving away tiie 
money before he should reach home. The good man immediately 
•went to the house of a sick and necessitous fctniily, and told them, 
that God had sent them some relief. Being welcomed by the suffer- 
ers with tears of gratitude, he began to unde the knots. After ma- 
ny fruitless efforts, and impatient of the perplexity and delay, he 
gave the handkerchief and all the money to the mother of the family, 
saying, " here, my dear, take it ; I believe the Lord designs it all 
for you." 

Mr. Eliot published several letters in a Avork, entitled, the glori- 
ous progress of the gospel among the Indians Sec. 1649 ; tears of 
repentance, in conjunction with Mr. INIayhew, 1653 ; a late and fur- 
ther manifestation of the progress of the gospel araong-the Indians, 



27« ELL 

&tc. 1655; of the gospel amongst the Indians, &c. 1659; a brief 
narrative of the progress ot the gospel, &c. 1670. A vvorK ol his, 
entitled the christian commonwealth &c. was published in EngLnd 
about the year 1660, written nine or ten years before. When it was 
received in Massachusetts, the governor and council, viewing it as 
full of seditious priuLipies against all established governments, es- 
pecially against the monarcny of ihcirnative country, required Mr. 
Eliot to make a recantation, which he accordingly did, acknowledg- 
ing, that government by kings, lords, and commons was not anti- 
christian. The book was sujjpressed. In 1661 he published his 
translation of the New^ Testament into the Indian tongue ; and in 
1663 his immense work, the translation of the whole bible, in 4to. 
A second edition was printed in 1685, revised by Mr. Cotton, and 
both of them were printed at Cambridge. The longest word is in 
Mark i. 40. Wuttappesittukciussunnoohwehtunkquoh. Mr. Eliot 
also published the Jews in America, 1660, intended to prove, that 
the Indians were descendants of the Jews ; an Indian grammar, 
1666 ; the logic primer lor the use of the Indians, 1672 ; the psalms 
translated into Indian metre, and a catechism, annexed to the edition 
of the New Testament in 1680; a translation of the practice of 
piety, of Baxter's call to the unconverted, and of several of Shep- 
ard's works; the harmony of the gospels in English, 4to, 1678 ; the 
divine management of gospel churches by the ordinance of councils, 
designed for the reconciliation of the presbyterians, and congrega- 
tionaiists. Nine of his letters to sir Robert Boyle are in the third 
volume of the historical collections.— Mi ^Ae?-'* magiialia, iii. 170 
— 2 1 1 ; Eliot's life and death ; JVeaVs J^. E.\. 151, 242. 258 ; ii. 98 ; 
Collections historical society, \. 176 ; iii. 177—188 ; v. 256 — 266 ; vii. 
24 ; viii. 5 — 35 ; x. 8—12, 124, 186 ; Douglass, ii. 113 ; Hutch- 
iiuon, i. 162 — 169, 212 ; Holmes' aJinals, i. 591 ; H. Adams' A* E. 
82 — 87 ; Morse and Parish's jV. E. 230 — 233. 

ELIOT (John), minister of Newton, was the son of the preced- 
ing, and was graduated at Harvard college in 165 6. He was or- 
dained at Cambridge village, or Nonantum, now Newton, in 1664, 
and in this place he died October 1 1, 1668 in the thirty third yearof 
his age. His abilities as a preacher were preeminent. He gave 
his father much assistance in his missionary employment. During 
his ministry at Newton he usually preached once a fortnight to the 
Indians at Pcquimmit, or Stoughton, and sometimes at Natick.— * 
Gookin, ch. v ; Homer's history o/JVewton in Collect, hist. soc. v. 266. 

ELIOT (Andrew, d.d.), minister in Boston, was born about 
the year 1719 and in 1737 was graduated at Harvard college. He 
early felt the impressions of religion and was in consequence induc- 
ed to devote himself to the service of the Lord Jesus. He was or- 
dained pastor of thr. new north church in Boston, as colleague with 
the reverend Mr. Webb, April 14, 1742. Here he continued in 
high reputation till his death, September 13, 1778, aged fifty nine 
■^•ears, 



ELI. 27T 

Dr. Eliot was highly respected for his talents and virtues. He 
believed, and he preached the distinguishing doctrines of the gos- 
pel ; but his sermons were not filled with invectives against those, 
who differed from him. He was anxious to promote the intc^rests 
of practical godliness, and destitute of bigotry he embraced all , who 
appeared to have an honest regard to religious truth. His dis<:ours- 
es were written in a style perspicuous and correct, and he delivered 
them with dignity, gracefulness, and unaifected fervor. His audi- 
ence was never inattentive. The various duties of the pastoral of- 
fice he ever discharged with fidelity. He revered the constit:ution 
of the churches of New England, and delighted in seeing their 
prosperity. In 1743 he united with many other excellent ministers 
in Massachusetts in giving his testimony in favor of the very remark- 
able revival of religion, which had taken place in this coimtry. 
When the British took possession of Boston, he sent his family out 
of the town with the intention of following them ; but a number of the 
people, belonging to his society and to other societies, being oblig- 
ed to remain, requested him not to leave them. After seeking di- 
vine direction, he thought it his duty to comply with their request, 
and in no period of his life was he more eminently useful. He Was 
a friend to tiic irecdom, peace, and independence of America. By 
his benevolent offices he contributed much toward alleviating the 
sufferings of the inhabitants ; he ministered to his sick and 
wounded annsti ymen in prison ; he went about doing good ; and 
he appeared to be more than ever disengaged from the world, and 
attached to things heavenly and divine. He was a friend of literature 
and science, and he rendered important services to Harvard college 
both as an individual benefactor, and as a member of theboardof over- 
seers and of the corporation. So highly were his literary acquire- 
ments and general character estimated, that he was once elected 
president of the university ; but his attachment to his people was 
such, that he declined the appointment. In his last sickness he ex- 
pressed unshaken faith in those doctrines of the grace of God, which 
he had preached to others, and would frequently breathe out the pi- 
ous ejaculation, " come. Lord Jesus, come quickly." 

Dr. Eliot wrote a long account of the effects of the dispute between 
Great Britain and America in 1768, which he sent to a friend in Eng- 
land. It is spoken of with high respect both on account of its style, 
and of the candor and moderation, with which it was written. The 
following is a catalogue of his publications. A sermon at his own 
ordination, 1742 ; inordinate love of the world inconsistent with the 
love of God, 1744 ; on the death of the reverend John Webb, 1 750 ; 
a fast sermon, 1753 ; at the ordination of the reverend Joseph Rob- 
erts, 1754 ; a thanksgiving sermon for the conquest of Quebec, 
1759; election sermon, 1765 ; at the ordination of .the reverend 
Ebenczer Thayer, 1766 ; Dudleian lecture, 1771 ; at the ordina- 
tion of the reverend Joseph Willard, 1773 ; at the execution of Le- 



278 ELL. 

vi Ames, 1773; at the ordination of his son, the rcverciul Andretr 
Eliot, 1774; a volume of twenty sermons, 8vo, 1774, which are 
considered as very valuable. — Thac her' s funeral sermon ; Holmes' 
«nwa/«, ii. 410 ; Memoirs of Thomas Mollis . 

ELLSWORTH (Oliver, ll. d.), chief justice of the United 
States, was born at Windsor, Connecticut, April 29, 1745, and was 
graduated at the college in New Jersey in 1766. He soon afterwards 
commenced the practice of the law, in which profession he attained 
an acknowledged eminence. His perceptions were unusually rap- 
id, his reasoning clear and conclusive, and his eloquence almost ir- 
resistible. In the year 1777 he was chosen a delegate to the conti- 
nental congress. He found himself in a new sphere ; but his ex- 
traordinary powers did not fail him, and he met the exigencies of 
the times without shrinking. In 1780 he was elected into the 
council of his nstive state, and he continued a member of that body 
till 1784, when he was appointed a judge of the superior court. In 
1787 he was elected a member of the convention, which framed the 
federal constitution. In an assembly, illustrious for talents, erudi- 
tion, and patriotism, he held a distinguished place. His exertions 
essentially aided in the production of an instrument, which, imder 
the divine blessing, has been the main pillar of American prosperity 
and glory. He was immediately afterwards a member of the state 
convention, and contributed his efforts towards procuring the ratiii- 
cation of that instrument. When the federal government was or- 
ganized in 1789, he was chosen a member of the senate. This ele- 
vated station, which he filled with his accustomed dignity, he occu- 
pied till in March 1796 he was nominated by president Washington 
chief justice of the supreme court of the United States. Though 
nis attention had been for many years abstracted from the study of 
the law, yet he presided in that high court with the greatest repu- 
tation. The diligence, with which he discharged his oflicial du- 
ties, could be equalled only by his inexhaustible patience. His 
charges to the jury were rich not only in legal principles luit in moral 
sentiments, expressed in a simple, concise style, and dclivereil in a 
manner, which gave them a tenfold energy and impression. To- 
wards the close of the year 1799 he was appointed by president Ad- 
ams envoy extraordinary to France for the purpose of accommodat- 
ing existing difficulties, and settling a treaty with that nation. 
With much reluctance he accepted the appointment. In conjunc- 
tion with governor Davie and Mr. Murray, his associates, he nego- 
tiated a treaty, which though it did not answer the just claims and 
expectations of the American public, was midoubtcdly the best, that 
could be procured. Having accomplished the business of his em- 
bassy he repaired to Enp;land for the benefit of the mineral waters, 
as his health had suffered much in his voyage to Europe. Convinc- 
ed that his infirmities must incapacitate him for the futin-e dis- 
charge of his duties on the bench, he transmitted a resignation of 



ELL. 279 

liis oflke of chief justice at the close of the year 1 800. On his return, 
to Connecticut, his fellow citizens, desirous of still enjoying the. 
benefit of his extraordinary talents, elected him into the council ;. 
and in May 1807 he was appointed chief justice of the state. This 
office, however, he declined from apprehension, that he could not 
lon'ii^ survive under the pressure of his distressing maladies, and of 
domestic afflictions. He died November 26, ISOf, in the sixty 
third year of his age. 

Mr. Ellsworth was admired as an accomplished advocate, an up- 
right legislator, an able and impartial judge, a wise and incorrupt- 
ible ambassador, and an ardent, uniform, and indefatigable patriot, 
who devoted every faculty, every literary acquisition, and almost 
every hour of his life to his country's good. He moved for moK 
than thirty years in a most conspicuous sphere, unassailed by thi 
shafts of slander. His integrity was not only unimpeached but ut- 
suspected. In his debates in legislative bodies he was sometimes »■- 
dent, but his ardor illuminated the subject. His purposes ie 
he pursued with firmness, independence, and intrepidity. In 
private life he was a model of social and personal virtue. He 
was just in his dealings, frank in his communications, kind and 
obligir>g in his deportujent, easy of access to all, beloved and re- 
spected by his neighbors and acquaintance. Amid the varied hon- 
ors, accumulated upon him bv his country, he was unassuming; and 
humble. His dress, his equipage, and mode of living were regu- 
lated by a principle of republican economy ; but for the promotion 
of useful and benevolent designs he communicated with reediness 
and liberality. The purity and excellence of his character are rare 
in any station, and in the higher walks of life are almost unknown. 

If it be asked, to what cause is the uniformity of his virtue 
to be attributed ? The answer is at hand. Mr. Ellsworth 
was a Christian. He firmly believed the great doctrines of the 
gospel. Having its spirit transfused into his own heart aid be- 
ing directed by its maxims and impelled by its motives, he almost 
instinctively and at all times pursued a course of upright conduct. 
The principles, which governed him, were not of a kind, which arc 
liable to be weakened or destroyed by the opportunity of conceal- 
ment, the security from dishonor, the authority of numbers, or the 
prospects of interest. He made an explicit and public confession 
of Christianity in his youth ; and in all his intercourse with the 
polite and learned world he was not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. 
In the midst of multiplied engagements he made theology a study, 
and attended with unvarying punctuality on the worship of the 
sanctuary. The sage, whose eloquence had charmed the senate, 
and whose decisions from the bench were regarded as almost oracu- 
lar, sat with the simplicity of a child at the feet of Jesus, devaitly 
absorbed in the mysteries of redemption. His religion was not 
cold and heartless, but practical and vital. Meetings for social 



2&0 EME. 

worship and pious conference he countenanced by his presencu. 
He was one of tlie trustees of the missionury society of Connecti- 
cut, and engaged with ardor in the benevolent design of dissemi- 
nating the truths of the gospeh In his last illness he was humbl« 
and tranquil. He expressed the submission, the views, and the 
<,onsoiations of a Christian. His speech in the convention of Con- 
ineciicut in favor of the constitution is preserved in the American 
:musev\m.-—Pano/ilist and miss. mag. united, i. 193—197 ; Broivn*s 
,4mfi-ican register., ii. 95—98 ; American 77iuscum, iii. 334 — 338. 

EMERSON (Joseph), ininister of Maiden, Massachusetts, was 
Jjraduuted at Harvard college in 1717, and ordained October 31, 
1721, For near half a century he continued his benevolent labors 
v^ithout being detained from his pulpit but two sabbaths. He died 
suddenly July 13, 1767, in the sixty eighth year of his age. He 
le ft seven sons, several of Avhom were ministers. He was pious 
in early life, and his parents witnessed the effect of their instruc- 
tions and prayers. As a preacher of the gospel he searched the 
scriptures with diligence, that he might draw his doctrines from 
the pure fountains of truth. He preached with earnestness the real 
divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ, the special agency of the Holy 
Spirit in the conversion of sinners, the sovereignty of God, the 
depravity and guilt of man since the apostasy, the necessity of re- 
ceiving the righteousness of Christ in order to justification, the 
pierscverance of saints, and the indispensable importance of holi- 
ness tn heart and life. In the various relations, which he sustained, 
he wa«-. just, amiable, kind, and benevolent. One tenth of his in- 
come was devoted to charitable uses. He at stated times every 
day addressed himself to heaven, and never engaged in any im- 
portant affiur without first seeking the divine blessing. Such was 
his humility, that when unguarded words fell from his lips, he 
would ask forgiveness of his children and servants. He published 
the impottance and duty of a timely seeking of (ioil, 1727 ; meat 
out of the eater, and sweetness out of the strong, 1735.— i'««<"rfl/ > 
sermon by his son. ' 

ENDICOT (John), governor of Massachusetts, was sent to 
this co\intry by a company in England as their agent to curry on the 
plantation at Naumkeag, or Salem, in the sumn»er of 1 628. It was 
here, thut he laid the foundation of the first permanent town withia 
the limits of the Massachusetts patent. He was a suitable person 
to be entrusted with the care of a new settlement in the wilderness; 
for he was bold, undaunted, sociable, and cheerful, familiar, or aus- 
tere and distant, as occasion required. . The company in April 1629 
chose him the governor of" London's plantation ;" Iput in August 
it was determined to transfer the charter and the government of the 
colony 10 New England, and John Winthrop, who arrived m the fol- 
lowing year, was appointed governor. In 1()36 Mi. Fndicot was 
se»t out on an expedition against the Indians on Block island, and 



KRV. 281 

in the Pecjuot country. He continued at Salem tiii 1644, when he 
was elected governor of Massachusetts, and removed to Boston. 
He vt^as also governor from 1649 to 1654, and from 1655 to 1665. 
He died March 15, 1665, in the seventy seventh year of his age, and 
was succeeded by Bellingham. He was a sincere and zealous pu- 
ritan, rigid in his principles, and severe in the execution of the Hrvh 
against sectaries, or those, who differed from the religion of Massa- 
chusetts. Two episcopalians, who accused the members of the 
church of Salem of being separatists, were sent back to England by 
his orders. He was determined to establish a reformed and a pure 
church. The quakers and the baptists had no occasion to remem- 
ber him with affection. So opposed was he to every thing, 
which looked like popery, that, through the influence of Roger 
Williams, he cut out the cross from the military standard. He in- 
sisted at Salem, that the wome^i should wear veils at church. In 
1649, when he was governor, he entered into an association with 
the other magistrates against long hair. As the practice of wearing 
it, " after the manner of ruffians and barbarous Indians, Jiad begun 
to invade New England,*' they declared their detestation of the cus- 
tom, " as a thing uncivil and unmanly, whereby men do deform, 
themselves, and offend sober and modest men, and do corrupt good 
manners/' In 1 659, during his administration, four quakers were 
put to death in Boston. — JVeal's M England, i. 139, 364 ; Jlutc/iin- 
aon, i. 8—- 17, 38, 58, 134, 151, 172, 189, 235 ; TFinthrop, 105 ; Co!- 
led. hist. soc. vi. ^45, 261 ; ix. 5 ; H. Jdams' JS/". England, 27, 100 ; 
Jfolmes* annals, i. 243, 245, 289, 396 ; Morton, 81, IBS ; Magnolia^ 
ii. 18. 

ERVING (William), a benefactor of Harvard college, was 
graduated at that institution in 1753, and quitted the British army, 
in which he was an officer, at the commencement of the American 
revolution. He died at Roxbury in June 179 1, bequeathing to the 
university, in which he was educated, one thousand pounds towards 
establishing a professorship of chemistry and materia medica. 
This professor takes the name of the founder. 

EUSTACE (John Skey), a brave officer in the American war, 
entered into the service of his country not long after the com- 
mencement of the revolution, and continved one of her active de- 
fenders till the conclusion of the contest. He served for some time 
as an aid de camp to general Lee, and afterwards as an aid do camp 
to general Greene. When the war was ended, he retired to Georg- 
ia, and was there admitted to the bar as an advocate. In that 
state he received the appointment of adjutant general. In the year 
1794, as he was fond of a military life, he went to France, and there 
received the appointment of a brigadier general, and was afterwards 
promoted and made a major general. In that capacity he served 
the French nation for some time. He commanded iw 1797 a di- 
vision of the French army in Flanders. In 1800 Jic rciumod again 



282 EVA. 

to his native country and took up his residence in Orange countjf 
New York, where he led a retired, studious lite, till his death. He 
devoted to literature all the time, which the state oi his health 
•would permit. He died at Newburgh August 25, 1805, aged forty 
fiv* years.— Vfw York .<tiectat(jr^ Sf/tfcmber 4, 1805. 

EVANS (Nathaniel), a minister in New Jersey, and a poet» 
was born in Philadelphia June 8, 1742, and was graduated at the 
college in th.U citv in 1765, having i^.dned a high reputation for his 
l»enius. He immediately afterwards embarked for England, rec- 
ommended to the society for propagating the gospel, and was oi*- 
dained by the bishop of London. He arrived at Philadelphia on 
his return December 26, 1765, and entered soon upon the business 
of his mission at Gloucester county, in New Jersey. His season of 
labor was short, for it pleased God to remove him from this present 
life October 29, 1767, in the twenty sixth year of his age. He 
was remarkable for the excellence of his temper, the correctness 
of his morals, and the soundness of his doctrines. He published a 
short account of Thomas Godfrey, prefixed to Godfrey's poems, 
and ah elegy to his memory. After his death a selection of his 
writings was published, entitled, poems on several occasions, with 
some other compositions, Philadelphia, 1772. Annexed to this 
volume is one of his sermons.— ■Jmericayi viiiseum, vii. 405 ; Pref- 
ace to the above poems ; Hardie'a biog. dictionary. 

EVANS (Lewis), eminent for his acquaintance with American 
geography, was a surveyor in Pennsylvania. He made many jour- 
neys into the neighboring colonics, and had been frequently em- 
ployed in surveying lands, purchased of the natives. He also trav- 
ersed considerable tracts of the country, which they had not sold to 
the whites. He had collected a great store of materials from other 
sources. From these he compiled a map of the middle colonies, 
and of the adjacent country of the Indians, lying northward and 
westward. The first edition of it was published at Philadelphia in 
1749, and a second in 1755, accompanied with an exi)lanatory pam- 
phlet. Some expressions, countenancing the title of France to fort 
Frontenac, brou ^ht him into a controversy with a writer in Gaine's 
New York mercury in 1756. In the covu'se of the same year he 
wrote a full and elaborate reply to this and other charges against 
him, and caused the pamphlet to be published in London. They 
are both offered to the public under the title of geographical, his- 
torical, polit^iral, philosophical, and mechanical essays ; number I, 
and II. The first edition of this celebrated map was chiefly limited 
to New York, New Jersey, and Delaware. The second edition was 
in\ich enlarii^ed by the author, being made a general niap of the mid- 
dle British colonies, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, 
New Jersey,New York, Connecticut, and Rhode Island, and the coun- 
try of the confederate Indians. It was inscribed to Mr. Pownall. 
Afterwards in 1776, on the breaking out of the war between Great 



EVE, 2^3 

Britain and her colonies, Mr. Pownall himself gave a new edition 
of Evuns' map with large additions, entitieu a map of the British 
colonies in North America. It comprehended all New England 
and the bordering parts of Canada,— Mec/zVa/ repository , hexade ii, 
vi. 78, 163 ; Monthly anthology^ vi. 205. 

EVERETT (Oliver), minister in Boston, was graduated at 
Harvard college in 1779, and was ordained pastor of tlie churcli in 
summer street, as successor of the reverend Mr. Howe, January 2, 
1782. After a ministry of ten years, and alter having acquired 
a high reputation lor the very extraordinary powers ol his njind, 
the state of his health induced liim to ask. a dismission trom his peo- 
ple in 1792. He was succeeded in 1794 by the present minister 
of this church, tne reverend Dr. Kirkland. After he resigned the 
sacred office, Mr. Everett was appointed a judge of the court ot com- 
mon pleas for the county of Norfolk. He died at Dorchester No* 
vember 19, 1802, in the filly first year oi his a;^e. 

EWING (John, d. d.), minister in Philadelphia, and provost of 
the college iu that city, was born in East Nottinghai.. m Maryland 
June 22, 1732. His classical studies were begun under the rever- 
end Dr. Allison, with whom, after finishing the usual studies, he 
remained three years as a tutor. During that time he made some 
progress in the science of mathematics, in which he afterwards be- 
came so eminent. Such was his ardor in his scientific pursuits, and 
such were the difficulties, with which he had to struggle, that he 
frequently rode thirty or forty miles to obtaii^ books, which would 
give him assistance in his favorite speculations. He removed in 
1754 to the college of New Jersey, and entering the senior class 
was the favorite pupil of president Burr. He was graduated in 
1755, and afterwards accepted the appointment of tutor. Having 
resolved by divine permission to become a minister of the gospel, 
he pursued his theological studies under the direction ol the rever- 
end Dr. Allison. At the age of twenty six he was employed as 
the instructer of the philosophical classes in the college of Phila- 
delphia during the absence of the reverend Dr. Smith, who was 
then the provost In 1759 he accepted an unanimous call from 
the first presbyterian church in Philadelphia, of which he continued 
a minister till his death. In 1773 he was sem to Great Britain to so- 
licit benefactions for the academy of Newark in Delaware. He was 
every where received with respect. Among his acquaintance and 
friends were Dr. Robertson, Dr. Webster, Mr. Balfour, and Dr. Black- 
lock. In 1775 he returned to America, as the revolution wa§ com- 
mencing, notwithstanding the most tempting offers, which were 
made to induce him to remain in England, In 1779 he was elected 
provost of the university of Pennsylvania. To this station, which he 
held till his death, he brought large stores of information and a pater- 
nal tenderness toward the youth, who were committed to his care. 
He died in 1802 in the seventy first year of bis age, having been 9 



284 FAI. 



h^mup^ 



minister more than forty years. During his'last sickftess nc 
luur escaped his lips, und lie was patient and resigned to the will of 
his heavenly Father. His colleague, the reverend Dr. Linn, sur- 
vived him. 

In all the branches of science and literature, usually taught in 
colleges, Dr. twing was uncommonly accurate, and in his mode ot 
communicating information on the most abstruse and intricate sub- 
jects he was seldom surpassed. In mathematics, astronomy, and 
every branch of natural philosophy j in the Latin, (ircek, and He- 
brew languages ; and in logic, metaphysics, and moral philosophy 
he was one of the most accurate and profound scholars, which his 
country can boast of having reared. Such was his attachment to 
the original language, in which the Old Testament was written, that 
in the latter part of his life one could seldom enter hii room with- 
out seeing his Hebrew bi'ole on the couch beside him. He was a 
distinguished member of the American philosophical society. His 
qualifications as a minister of the gospel were many and eminent. 
Science was with him a handmaid to religion. He was mighty in 
the scriptures. To the fountains of all religious knowledge he 
■\rcnt for instruction, and from them he drew his religious opinions. 
lie examined and decided for himself. With the works of com- 
mentators and systematical writers he was Huniliar, viewing them 
as indispensable assistants to the student, though not to be implicitly 
confided in. His own investigation confirmed him in his belief of 
the doctrines of grace, which he endeavoured to impress upon the 
hearts of his people. His sermons were written with great accu- 
racy and care, in a style always perspicuous, and generally sober 
and temperate, though sometimes oniamented. Mere declamation 
was never heard from his lips. His deportment was easy and affa- 
ble. He had a frceness of salutation, which sometimes surprised 
the stranger ; but which was admired by those, who knew him, as 
it proceeded from an open and honest heart. His talents in con- 
versation were remarkably entertaining. He could unbend from 
severer studies and become the companion of innocent mirth, and of 
happy gaiety. Perfectly free from pedantry, he could accon)modatc 
himself to the most unlettered. His talent of narration was uni- 
versally admired. An extract of his sermon on the death of the 
reverend Dr. Allison is preserved in the assembly's magazine. He 
•published also a sermon on the death of George Bryan, 1791 ; the 
design of Christ's coming into the world, in the American preacher, 
ii ; and several communications in the,transactions of the" American 
philosophical society.— />/n«'* funeral sermon ; jlasembly^s misa, 
inag. i. 409 — 414, 458 ; Miller's retrospect., ii. 372 ; Noltncs* annals, 
ii. 505. 

FAIRFAX (Brian), minister of the episcopal church in Alexan- 
dria, Virginia, died at mouTif Eagle, near Cameron, August 7, 1802, 
in the seventy sixth year of his age. He was a man of upright 



FAN. 2S5 

principles, of unfeigned piety, and of simple manners. His long 
illness he bore with firmness and resignation. He published a ser- 
mon on the forgetfulness of our sins in the American preacher, 
vol. i, 

FANEUIL (Peter), founder of Faneuil hall in Boston, died 
March 3, 1743. He possessed a large estate and he employed it in 
doing good. While his charities were extensive, his liberal spirit 
induced him to present to the town of Boston a stately edifice for 
the accommodation of the inhabitants at their public meetings. 

FAUGERES (Margaretta V.), distinguished for her literary 
accomplishments, was the daughter of Ann Eliza Bleecker, and was 
born about the year 1771. The first years of her life were spent 
with her parents in the retired village of Tomhanic, about eighteen 
miles above Albany. Here through the instructions of her mother 
her mind was much cultivated, but the loss of this excellent parent 
at an age, when her counsels wei"e of the utmost importance, ^Vas 
irreparable. Mr. Bleecker, who was in affluent circumstances, after 
the termination of the war removed to New York, and as his daugh- 
ter grew up, saw her engaging in her manners, lively and witty, of 
an equal and sweet temper, and diffusing cheerfulness around her. 
Of her admirers she placed her affections upon one of a dissipated 
character, and notwithstanding the most earnest remonstrances of 
her father she in 1792 married Mr. Peter Faugeres, a physician in 
New York. It was not long, before she perceived the folly of hav- 
ing been governed by passion rather than by reason, and her disre- 
gard of paternal advice and preference of external accomplishments 
to correct morals and the virtues of the heart overwhelmed her 
with trouble. In three or four years the ample fortune, which she 
had brought to her husband, Avas entirely expended. Before the 
death of her father in 1795 his affection shielded her from many 
evils ; but in the summer of 1796 she was glad to procure a resi- 
dence in a garret with the author of her woes and one child. Mr. 
Faugeres fell a victim to the yellow fever in the fatal autumn of 
1798, and she soon afterwards engaged as an assistant in an acad- 
emy for young ladies at New Brunswick. For this station she was 
peculiarly qualified by the variety of her talents and the sweetness 
of her temper. In about a year she removed to Brooklyn, where 
she undertook the education of the children of several families. 
Her declining health having rendered her incapable of this employ- 
ment, she was received by a friend in New Yoi-k, whose attentions 
were peculiarly grateful, as she was sinking into the grave. She 
was resigned to the will of God, and, cheered by the truths offrelig- 
ion, she died in peace January 9, 1801, in the thirtieth year of her 
age. 

Mrs. Faugeres had a taste for poetry, and many of the produc- 
tions of her pen, which were much admired, were published in the 
New York magazine and the American museum. In 1793 sha 



286 FIN. 

published, prefixed to the works of Mrs. Bleecker,her moUicr, me- 
moirs of her life, and several of her own essays were annexed to 
the volume. Thouj^h she had never once entered a theatre, she 
gave the world in 1795 or 1796 Belisarius, a tragedy. Her most 
valuable manuscripts are in the hands of Mr. Hardie of New York, 
who has declared his intention of committing them to the press.—- 
Hardie* s biog. dictionary . 

FINLEY (Samuel, d.d.), president of the college of New Jer- 
sey, was born of pious parents in the county of Armagh in Ireland 
in the year 1715, and was one of seven sons, who were all esteem- 
ed pious. Very early in life it pleased God to awaken and convert 
him. He first heard a sermon, when he was six years old, and from 
that time resolved to be a minister. He left his native country at 
the age of eighteen, and arrived at Philadelphia September 28,1734. 
After his arrival in America he spent several years in completing 
his studies, and was particularly attentive to theology. Having 
been licensed to preach in August 1740, he was ordained on the 
thirteenth of October by the presbytery of New Brunsv/ick. The 
first part of his ministry was spent in fatiguing itinerant labors. 
He contributed his efforts with the reverend Gilbert Tennent and 
Mr. Whitefield in promoting the revival of religion, which was at 
this period so remarkable throughout this country. His benevolent 
zeal sometimes brought him into unpleasant circumstances. The 
legislature of Connecticut had made a law, prohibiting itinerants 
from entering parishes, in which a minister was settled, unless by 
his consent. For preaching to a presbyterian congregation in New 
Haven Mr. Finlcy was in consequence of this law seized by the 
civil authority, and carried as a vagrant out of the colony. But per- 
secution could not shake him from his purpose of being occupied 
in preaching the everlasting gospel. His exertions were greatly 
blessed in a number of towns in New Jersey, and he preached for 
six months with great acceptance in Philadelphia. In June 1744 
he accepted an invit-ition from Nottingham in Maryland on the bor- 
der of Pennsylvania, where he continued near seventeen years, 
faithfully and successfully discharging the duties of his office. 
Here he established an academy, which acquired great reputation. 
Under his instruction many youths received the rudiments of learn- 
ing, and correct moral sentiments, which have since contributed 
much towards rendering them the most useful members of society. 
Upon the death of president Davies Mr, Finley was chosen his suc- 
cessor. It was with reluctance, that he left a people, so much en- 
deared to hirn, and with whom he had so long lived in friendship. 
He removed to Princeton in July 1761 and entered upon the duties 
of his new office. The college flourished under his care ; but it 
enjoyed the benefit of ills superintendence for but a few years. He 
died at Philadelphia, whither he had gone for medical assistance* 
July 17, 1766, in the fifty first year of his age, and was buried by 
the side of his friend, the reverend Gilbert Tennent. 



FIN. 287 

In his religious opinions Dr. Finley was a Calvinist. His ser- 
mons were not hasty productions, but the result of study, and filled 
with good sense and well digested sentiment, expressed in a style 
pleasing to the man of science, yet perfectly intelligible by the 
illiterate. He was remarkable for sweetness of temper and polite 
behavior, hospitable, charitable, and diligent in the performance of 
the various duties of life. During his last sickness he was perfect- 
ly resigned to the divine will ; he had a strong faith in his Savior j 
and he frequently expressed an earnest desire of departing, that he 
might dwell with the Lord Jesus. A short time before his death 
he sat up, and prayed earnestly, that God would enable him to en- 
dure patiently to the end, and keep him from dishonoring the min- 
istry.- He then said, " blessed be God, eternal rest is at hand. 
Eternity is but long enough to enjoy my God. This, this has ani- 
mated me in my severest studies ; I was ashamed to take rest here» 
O, that I might be filled with the fulness of God !" He tlien ad- 
dressed himself to all his friends in the room, " O, that each of you 
may experience what, blessed be God, I do, when you come to die j 
may you have the pleasure in a dying hour to reflect, that with 
faith and patience, zeal and sincerity, you have endeavored to serve 
the Lord ; and may each of you be impressed, as I have been, with 
God's word, looking upon it as substantial, and not only fearing, but 
being unwilling to offend against it." To a member of the second 
presbyterian church in Philadelphia he observed, " I have olten 
preached and prayed among you, my dear sir, and the doctrines I 
preached to you are now my support ; and, blessed be God, they 
are without a flaw.'' To a person from Princeton he said, " give 
my love to the people at Princeton, and tell them, that I am going 
to die, and that I am not afraid to die." On being asked how he 
felt, he replied, " full of ti-iumph ! I triumph through Christ I 
Nothing clips my wings, but the thoughts of my dissolution being 
delayed. O, that it were to night ! My very soul thirsts for eternal 
rest." When he was asked, what he saw in eternity to excite such 
vehement desires, he said, " I see the eternal love and goodness of 
God ; I see the fulness of the Mediator ; I see the love of Jesus. 
O, to be dissolved and to be with him ! I long to be clothed with 
the complete righteousness of Christ." Thus died this excellent 
man in the full assurance of salvation. 

He published a sermon on Matthew xii. 28, entitled, Christ tri- 
umphing and satan raging, preached at Nottingham January 20, 
1741 ; a refutation of Mr. Thompson's sermon on the doctrine of 
convictions, 1743 ; satan stripped of his evan.q-elical robe, against 
the Moravians, 1743 ; a charitable plea for the speechless in answer 
to Abel Morgan's anti-pedo-rantism, 1747 ; a vindication of the 
preceding, 1748 ; a sermon at the ordination of the reverend John 
Rodgers at St. George's, Pennsylvania, March 1 6, 1749 ; a sermor* 
on the death of president Davies, prefixed to his works. — Assembly*s 



288 FIS. 

viiss. mag. i. 71 — 77', Pano/ilist, i.28\ — 286; and new series^ J, 
241_257 ; Christian's magazine, \. 301 — 307, 419 — 436 ; Maasa. 
niiss. mag. iv. 241 — 247. 

FISKE (John), first minister of Wenham and Chelmsford, Mas- 
sachusetts, was born in England in 1601, and was educated at Cam- 
bridge. He came to this country in 1637, and being in the same 
ship with the reverend John Allen, they preached two sermons al- 
most every day during the voyage. He was for some time the 
teacher of a school at Cambridge. As his property was large, he 
made considerable loans to the province. He lived almost three 
years at Salem, preaching to the church, and instructing a number 
of young persons. When a church was gathered in Enon, or 
Wenham, October 8, 1644, he was settled the minister, and here 
he continued till about the year 1656, when he removed to Chelms- 
ford, then a new town, with the majority of his church. Having; 
been an able and useful preacher in this place twenty years, he died 
Janviary 14, 1677. He was a skilful physician, as well as an excel- 
lent minister. One of his sons was minister of Braintree. Among 
the severest afflictions, to which he was called, says Dr. Mather, 
was the loss of his concordance ; that is, of his wife, Avho was so 
expert in the scriptures, as to render any other concordance imnec- 
essary. He published a catechism, entitled, the olive branch wa- 
tered. — Magnolia, iii. 141—143 ; Collect, hist. soc. vi. 239, 240. 

FISKE (Nathan', D. d.), minister of Brookfield, Massachusetts, 
was born in Weston September 20, 1733. He was graduated at 
Harvard college in 1754, and ordained pastor of the church in the 
third parish in Brookfield May 28, 1758. Here he continued more 
than forty years. After preaching on the Lord's day November 
24, 1799, he retired to his bed at his usual hour in apparent health, 
and in a short time died without a struggle, aged sixty six years. 
By incessant study Dr. Fiske gradually perfected his talents, and 
gained the public esteem. Few men, with his advantages, had ac- 
cumulated a greater store of rich and various knowledge. In pros- 
perity and adversity he possessed the same serenity of mind. With 
a small salary he found means to practise a generous hospitality, 
and to give three sons a collegial education. He pviblished a his- 
torical sermon on the settlement and growth of Brookfield, deliver- 
ed December 31, 1775 ; a fast sermon, 1776 ; a sermon on the 
death of Mr. Joshua Spooncr, 1778 ; on the death of the honora- 
ble judge Foster, 1779 ; an oration on the capture of lord Corn- 
wallis, October 1781 ; a sermon on the death of Mr. Josiah Hobbs, 
1784 ; sermons on various subjects, 8vo, 1794 ; Dudleian lecture, 
1796 ; the moral monitor, 2 vol. 12mo, 1801, containing a number 
of essays, originally published in the newspapers. — Preface to the 
monitor ; Monthly anthology, i. 639. 

FITCH (James), first minister of Saybrook and of Norwich in 
Connecticut, was born in the county of Essex in England Decern- 



FIT. 289 

ber24, 1622, and came to this country in 1638. He had already 
acquired a correct knowledge of the learned languages ; but he 
spent seven years under the instruction of Mr. Hooker and Mr. 
Stone. In 1646 he was ordan)ed over a church, which was at that 
time gathered in Saybrook, and it is said, that the brethren's hands 
only were imposed. In 1660 he removed, wilh the greater part of 
his church to Norwich, and in that town passed the remainijig ac- 
tive days of his life. When the infirmities of age obliged him to 
cease from his public labors, he retired to his children at Lebanon, 
where he died November 18, 1702, in the eightieth year of his age. 
He married a daughter of the reverend Henry Whitfield. He 
was distinguished for the penetration of his mind, the energy of 
his preaching, and the sanctity of his life. He was acquainted with 
the Moheagan language, and preached the gospel of salvation to 
the Indians in the neighborhood of Norwich. He even gave some 
of his own lands to induce them to renounce their savage manner 
of living. A letter of his on the subject of his missionary labors 
is published in Gookin. — Mather'^ magnalia^ iii. 200 ; TrumbuWa 
Connecticut, i. 107, 299, 502, 503 ; Collect, hist. soc. i. 208 ; ix. 86 ; 
Alden's account of Portsmouth. 

FITCH (Jabez), minister of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, was 
the son of the preceding, and was born at Norwich in April 1672. 
He was graduated at Harvard college in 1 694, and was afterwards 
fellow. In 1703 he was ordained at Ipswich as colleague of the 
reverend John Rogers. On account of the incompetency of his 
maintenance he withdrew from his pastoral office in December 
1723, and about the year 1725 was established at Portsmouth. Af- 
ter continuing here more than twenty years he died November 22, 
1746, in the seventy fifth year of his age. He had a taste for his- 
torical researches, and began in 1728 to make a collection of facts 
relative to New Hampshire. Dr. Belknap had access to his papers. 
He published a sermon, occasioned by the great earthquake, Octo- 
ber 29, 1727 ; at the ordination of the reverend John Tucke at Gos- 
port, isle of Shoals, in 1732, from these words, " I will make you 
fishers of men;" two sermons, designed to make a religious im- 
provement of the throat distemper, which prevailed in 1735 and 
1736 ; and an account of that disease, as it appeared in New Hamp- 
shire.— ./f /even's account of religious societies in Portsmouth ; Collect, 
hist. soc. vii. 251, 257 ; x. 50. 

FLYNT (Henry), one of the first ministers of Braintree, Mas- 
sachusetts, was ordained as teacher March 17,1640. When the 
church was first organized September 17, 1639, he was chosen col- 
league with the reverend Mr. Thomson, who was ordained pastor 
September twenty fourth ; but his settlement was delayed for a few 
months. He died:April 27, 1668, and his colleague in December 
following. He was a man of piety and integrity, and well qualified 
for the work of the ministry. His son, the reverend .Tosiah Flvnt, 
■ 38 ' 



vas settled at Dorchester in 1671 and died ih 1680.— Mz^Ticfia, iii. 
122; Hancock's cent, sermon; Morion^ 200 j Winthrofiy 18a; 
■Holmes* annals^ i. 311, 402. 

FLYNT (Henry), tutor and fellow of Harvard college, was the 
son of the reverend Josiiih Flynt of Dorchester, and received his de- 
gree of bachelor of arts in 1693. He was chosen a fellow of the 
university in 1700. and in 1705 was appointed tutor. This ofHce 
he sustained till his resignation September 25, 1754. He died 
February 13, 1760, in the eighty fiuh year of his age. Many of 
the most eminent men in tne country were educated under his care. 
Dr. Chuuncy pronounces him a solid, judicious man, and one of the 
best of preachers. He was not contemptible for his learning ; but 
he would have been more conspicuous for it, if he had not yielded 
so much to a very indolent tempxer. Though his spirit was catho- 
lic, he yet contended for the suostantial parts of religion. Having 
a sound judgment, he was firm in inuintaining any position, which 
he had deliberately taken. The few foibles, which he exhibited, 
were ascribed to his living in a single state. In his last illness he 
viewed the approach of death with perfect calmness, for he trusted 
in the mercy of God through the merits of Christ. He published 
an appeal to the consciences of a degenerate people, a sermon 
preached at the Thursday lecture in Boston, 1729 ; a sermon to the 
students in the college hall, 1736 ; oratio funebris in obitum rever- 

endi B. Wadsworth, 1738 ; twenty sermons, 8 vo, 1739. d/ifileton't 

fun. sermon ; LoveU's oratio funebris ; Collect, hist. »oc. ix. 183 j 
X. 1 6 5'. 

FORBES (Eli, d. d.), minister of Brookfield and of Gloucester, 
M:issachusetts, was born in Westborough in October 1726, and en- 
tered Harvard college in 1744. In the month of July of the fol- 
lowing year he was demanded as a soldier, and he cheerfully shoul- 
dered his musket and marched more than a hundred miles to op- 
pose the French and Indians. Having been released by the inter- 
position of his friends, he returned to his studies with a sharpened 
appetite, and was giaciuated in 175 1. He was ordained minister of 
the seco!Kl parish in Brookfield June 3, 1752. In the years 1758 
and 1759 he was a chaplain in one of the regiments. In 1762 he 
went as a missionary to the Oneidas, one of the six nations of In- 
dians, and pUkHted the first christian church at Onaquagie, on the 
river Susquehnnnah, about one hundred and seventy miles from 
lake C)tsego, which is its source. Having established in this place 
a school for children and another for adults, he returned, bringing 
with him four Indian children, whom he sent back again in a few 
years, after furnishing them with such knowledge, as would be use- 
ful to them. He also brom^ht with him a white lad, who had be- 
come a complete savage ; but he was civilized, and being educated 
at Dartmouth college, where he received a degree, was the agent of 
congress during the revolutionary war. and was very useful. Dr. 



FOS. 29i 

Forbes,. falling under the groundless suspicion of being a tory, re- 
quested a dismission from his people in March 1776, and on the 
iifth of June was installed at Gloucester. Here he died December 
15, 1804, in the seventy eighth year of his age. He published a 
small octavo volume, entitled, a family book, and a number of single 
sermons, among which are a thanksgiving sermon on the conquest 
of Canada, 1761 ; an artillery election sermon, 1771 ; an account 
of the reverend Joshua Eaton of Spencer, prefixed to seven ser- 
mons of Mr. Eaton, and a funeral sermon on his death, 1772 ; a 
sernion on the repair of his meeting house, 1792. — Monthly anthoU 
ogy, i. 669 ; IV/iitney's hist. Worcester., 75 ; Chauncy*s serm. at qT' 
dination of J. Bowman/; Piscataqua evang. mag. ii. 169—173 j As- 
sembly's miss. mag. i. 53, 5.4. 

FOSTER (Ji;pidiah), a justice of the superior court of Massa- 
chusetts, was born in Andover October 10, 1726, and.was graduat- 
ed at Harvard college in, 1744. He soon established himself in the 
town of Brookfield, and married a daughter of brigadier general 
D wight. His character for integrity and talents procured him a 
number of civil and military offices. He received his appointment 
of judge in 1776. He was one of the principal meaibers 
of the convention, which framed the constitution of Massa- 
chusetts, but died belore this work was finisiied. His death 
took place October 17, 1779, when he was fifty three years of age. 
He was early and firmly attached to the interest and freedom of his 
country, in opposiiion to the despotic measures of Great Britain, 
and never once, in the most gloomy periods, was heard to express 
a doubt of the ultimate success of America. In early life he made 
a profession of Christianity, and his conduct was uniformly exem- 
plary.— ^/^wA-e'«./M7z. sermon ; Jndeficndrnt chronicle, October 28,1779. 

FOSTER (Benjamin, d. d.), minister in New York, was born in 
Danvers, Massachusetts, June 12, 1750. Although he was in ear- 
ly life created anew by the influence of the Spirit of God, and in- 
spired with the, love of excellence ; yet it was not until after many- 
conflicts, that he obtained that peace, which ^ the world can neither 
give nor take aw ly. He was graduated at Yale college in 1774'. 
While a member of this institution a controversy respecting bap-^ 
tism occupied luuch of the public attention, and this being thought 
a proper subject of discussion, Mr. Foster was appointed to defend 
infant baptism b sprinkling. In preparing himself for this disput- 
ation he bec.m<" convinced, that his former sentiments were erro- 
neous, and he was ever afterwards a conscientious baptist. After 
pursuing for some time the study of divinity under the care of the 
reverend Dr. Stillman of Boston, he was ordained ministerof a bap- 
tist church in Leicester October 23, 1776. The want of a suitable 
maintenance induced him in 1782 to ask a dismission from his peo- 
ple, after which he preached about two years in Danvers. In Jan- 
.uary 1785 he was called to the first church in Newport ; and in the 



292 FOX. 

autumn of 1788 removed to New York, wlicve he was minister of 
the tirst baptist church till his death. Durint^the prevalence of the 
ycilow fever in 1798, Dr. Foster did not shrink from his duties as a 
faithful minister of Jesus Christ. He visited the sick and dyinp:, 
and endeavored to impart to them the hopes of religion. He fell a 
victim to his benevolence August 26, 1798, aged forty eight years. 
He was distinguished for his acquaintance with the Greek, Hebrew, 
and Chaldetm languages. As a divine he advocated with zeal the 
doctrine of salvation by free grace, and as a preacher was indefati- 
gable. His life was pure and amiable, upright and benevolent. He 
publi^ihed, while he lived at Leicester, the washing of regeneration, 
or the divine right of immersion, in answer to a treatise of the rev- 
erend Mr. Fish, and primitive baptism defended, in a letter to the 
reverend John Cleveland. He also publislicd a dissertation on the 
seventy weeks of Daniel, the particular and exact fulfilment of 
which prophecy is considered and proved. — Hardie's biog. dictiona- 
ry ; Mas<a. miss. mag. i. 30 ; BackitSy iii. 174, 230. 

FOXCROFT (Thomas), minister in Boston, was the son of 
Francis Foxcroft, esquire, of Cambridge, and was graduated at 
Harvard college in 1714. His father, who was a member of the 
church of England, was desirous, that his son should be an episco- 
pal clergyman. This was also his intention till by diligent study 
and free conversation with the reverend Nchemiah Walter of Rox- 
bury, a great reasoner and an eminently pious man, he became con- 
vinced, that the congregational mode of worship and government 
was most agreeable to the scriptures. He was ordained pastor of 
the first church in Boston, as colleague with the reverend Mr. 
Wadsworth, November 20, 1717. No minister was more univer- 
sally admired. None was accounted either a more polite and ele- 
gant, or a more devout and edifying preacher. His high reputation 
continued till in his later years the vigor of his constitution and of 
his mind was impaired by repeated sickness. The reverend Dr. 
Chauncy was settled as his colleague in 1727. After a ministry of 
more than half a century he died June 18, 1769, in the seventy 
third year of his age. He was a learned divine. His powers of 
reasoning were strong, and few had a greater command of words. 
His religious sentiments, fovmded, as he believed, upon the scrip- 
tures, were strictly Calvinistic, and they were the chief subjects of 
his preaching. He never concealed or yielded them from the fear 
of man, as he always sought the approbation of God. His addresses 
to the consciences of his hearers were pungent. He was, says Dr. 
Chauncy, a real, good christian ; a partaker of the Holy Ghost ; 
uniform in his walk with God in the way of his commandments ; 
though, instead of trusting that he was righteous in the eye of strict 
law, he accounted himself an unprofitable servant ; fixing his de- 
pendence, not on his own worthiness, not on any works of righteous- 
ness, which he had done, but on the mercy of God and the atoning 



FRA. 21^3 

blood and perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ, the Savior. His 
writings evince a clearness of perception, copiousness of invention, 
liveliness of imagination, and soundness of judgment. They bear 
testimony also to his unfeigned piety. He published a sermon at 
his own ordination, 1718 ; on kindness, 1720 ; on the death of his 
mother, 1721 ; of Mr. John Coney, 1722 ; of dame Bridget Usher, 
1723 ; of George I, of the honorable Penn Townsend, and of reve- 
rend William Waldron, 1727 ; of reverend John Williams and 
Thomas Blowers, 1729 ; of reverend Benjamin Wadsworth, 1737 ; 
an essay on the state of the dead, 1722 ; the day of a godly man's 
death better than that of his birth ; duty of the godly to be inter- 
cessors and reformers ; two sermons shewing how to begin and 
end the year after a godly sort ; God's face set against an incorri- 
gible people, 1724 ; at the ordination of the reverend John Lowell, 
1726 ; a discourse preparatory to the choice of a minister, 1727 ; on 
death ; on the earthquake ; at the ordination of reverend John Tay- 
lor, 1728 ; an answer to Mr. T. Barclay's persuasive, a defence of 
of presbyterian ordination, 1729; observations historical and prac- 
tical on the rise and primitive state of New England, with special 
reference to the first church in Boston, a century sermon, August 
23, 1730; pleas of gospel impenitents refuted in two sermons, 
1730 ; the divine right of deacons, 1731 ; to a young woman under 
sentence of death, 1733 ; a sermon, occasioned by the visits and la- 
bors of the reverend Mr. Whitefield, 1740 ; at a private family 
meeting, 1742; an apology for Mr. Whitefield, 1745 ; saints' unit- 
ed confession in disparagement of their own righteousness, 1750 ; 
like precious faith obtained by all the true servants of Christ, 1756 ; 
a thanksgiving sermon for the conquest of Canada, \760.—-C/iau7i' 
cy's fun, sermon ; Massa. gazette, Jtme 22j 1769; Chandler's life of 
Johnson, 70 ; Collect, hist. soc. x. 164. 

FRANKLIN (Benjamin, LL.D.), a philosopher and statesman^ 
was born in Boston January 17, 1706. His father, who was a native 
of England, was a soap boiler and tallow chandler in that town. At 
the age of eight years he was sent to a grammar school, but at 
the age of ten his father required his services to assist him in his 
business. Two years afterwards he was bound as an apprentice to 
his brother, who was a printer. In this employment he made great 
proficiency, and having a taste for books he devoted much of his 
leisure time to reading. So eager was he in the pursuit of knowl- 
edge, that he frequently passed the greater part of the night in his 
studies. He became expert in the Socratic mode of reasoning by 
asking questions, and thus he sometimes embarrassed persons of 
understanding superior to his own. In 1721 his brother began to 
print the New England courant, which was the third newspaper, 
published in America. The two preceding papers were the Bos- 
ton news letter and Boston gazette. Young Franklin wrote a num- 
ber of essays for the courant, which were so well received, as tc> 



594 FRA, 

encourage him to continue his literary labors. To improve his 
style he resolved to imitate Addison's spectator. The method, 
which he took, was to make a summary oi' a paper, after he had 
read it, and in a few days, when he had forgotten the expressions of 
the author, to endeavor to restore it to its original form. By 
this means he was taught his errors, and perceived the necessity 
of being more fully acquainted with the synonymous woi-ds of the 
language. He was much assisted also in acquiring a facility and 
variety of expression by writing poetry. 

At this early period the perusal of Shaftsbury and Collins made 
him completely a sceptic, and he was fond of disputing upon 
the subject of religion. This circumstance caused him to be re- 
garded by pious men with abhorrence, ond on this account as well 
»s on account of the ill treatment, which he received from his 
brother he determined to leave Boston. His departure Avas facili- 
tated by the possession of his indenture, which his brother had given 
him about the year 1723, not from friendship, but because the gen- 
eral court had prohibited him from publishing the New England 
courant, and in order that it might be conducted under the name of 
Benjamin Franklin. He privately went on board a sloop, and soon 
arrived at New York. Finding no employment here, he pursued 
his way to Philadelphia, and entered the city without a friend and 
■with only a dollar in his pocket. Purchasing some rolls at a bak- 
er's shop, he put one under each arm, and eating a third walked 
through several streets in search of a lodging. There were at this 
time two printers in Philadelphia, Mr. Andrew Bradford, and Mr. 
Keimer, by the latter of whom he was employed. Sir William 
Keith, the governor, having been, in formed, that Franklin was » 
-young man of promising talents, invited him to his house and 
treated him in the most friendly manner. He advised him to enter 
into business for himself, and, to accomplish this object, to make a 
vbit to London in order that he might purchase the necessary arti- 
cles for a printing office. Receiving the promise of assistance, 
.'Franklin prepared himself for the voyage, and on applying for let- 
ters of recommendation previously to sailing he was told, that they 
iwould be sent on board. When the letter bag was opened, there 
rwas no packet for Franklin ; and he now discovered, that the gov- 
pernor was one of those men, wl.o love to oblit^e every body, and 
who substitute the most liberal professions and offers in tlie place of 
active, substantial kindness. Arriving in London in 1724, he was 
obliged to seek employment as a journeyman printer. He lived so 
economically, that he saved a great part of bis wages. Instead of 
drinking six pints of beer in a day, like some of his fellow labor- 
^ers, he drank only water, and he persuaded some of them to re- 
-nounce the extravagance of eating liread and cheese for breakfast 
-and to procure a cheap soup. As his principles at this time were 
csrery loose, his zeal to enlighten the world induced liim to publish 



FRA. «§^ 

his dissertation on liberty and necessity, in which he contende(?, 
that virtue and vice were nothing more than vaii: distinctions. This 
work procured him the acquaintance of Mandeville and others of 
that licentious class. 

He returned to Philadelphia in October 1726 as a clerk to Mr. 
Denham, a merchivnt, but the death of that gentleman in the fol- 
lowing year induced him to return to Mr. Keimer in the capacity 
of foreman in his office. He was very useful to his employer, 
for he gave him assistance as a letter founder. He engraved various 
ornaments, and made printer's ink. He soon began business in 
partnership with Mr. Meredith, but in 1729 he dissolved the con- 
nexion with iiim. Having purchased of Keimer a paper, which 
had been conducted in a wretched manner, he now conducted it in 
a style, which attracted much attention. At this time, though 
destitute of those religious principles, which give stability and ele- 
vation to virtue, he yet had discernment enough to be convinced, 
that truth, probity, and sincerity would promote his interest and be 
useful to him in the world, and he resolved to respect them in his 
cotiduct. The expenses of his establishment in business, notwith- 
standing his industry and economy brought him in a short time into 
embarrassments, from which he was relieved by the generous assist- 
ance of William Coleman and Robert Grace. In addition to his 
other employments' he now opened a small stationer's shop. But 
the claims of business did not extinguish his taste for literature and 
science. He formed a club, which he called the junto, composed 
of the most intelligent of his acquaintance. Questions of morality, 
politics, or philosophy were discussed every Friday evening, and 
the institution was continued almost forty years. As books were 
frequently quoted in the club, and as the members had bi'ought 
their books together for mutual advantage, he was led to form the 
plan of a public library, which was carried into effect in 1731, and 
became the foundation of that noble institution, the present library- 
company of Philadelphia. In 1732 he began to publish poor Rich- 
ard's almanac, which was enriched with maxims of frugality, tem- 
perance, industry, and integrity. So great was its reputation, that 
he sold ten thousand annually, and it was continued by him about 
twenty five years. The maxims were collected in the last almanac 
in the form of an address, called the way to wealth, which has ap- 
peared in various publications. In 1736 he was appointed clerk of 
the general assembly of Pennsylvania, and in 1737 postmaster of 
Philadelphia. The first fire company was formed by him in 1738. 
When the frontiers of Pennsylvania were endangered in 1744 and 
an ineffectual attempt was made to procure a militia law, he pro- 
posed a voluntary association for the defence of the province, and 
in a short time obtained ten thousand names. In 1747 he was chos- 
en a member of the assembly, and continued in this station ten 
years. In all important discussions his presence was considered as 



296 FRA. 

indispensable. He seldom spoke, and never exhibited any oratory ; 
but by a single observation he sometimes determined the fate of a 
question. In the long controversies with the proprietaries or their 
governors, he took the most active part, and displayed a firm spirit 
of liberty. 

He was now engaged for a number of years in a course of electrical 
experiments, of which he published an account. His great discovery 
was the indentity of the electric fluid and lightning. This discovery he 
made in the summer of 1752. Tothe upright stick of a kite he attach- 
ed an iron point ; the string was of hemp, excepting the part, which he 
held in his hand, which was of silk ; and a key was fastened where 
the hempen string terminated. With this apparatus, on the ap- 
proach of a thunder storm, he raised his kite. A cloud passed over 
it, and no signs of electricity appearing, he began to despair ; but 
observing the loose fibres of his string to move suddenly toward an 
erect position, he presented his knuckle to the key, and received a 
strong spark. The success of this experiment completely estab- 
lished his theory. The practical use of this discovery in securing 
houses from lightning by pointed conductors is well known in A- 
merica and Europe. In 1753 he was appointed deputy postmaster 
general of the British colonies, and in the same year the academy 
of Philadelphia, projected by him, was established. In 1754 he was 
one of the commissioners, who attended the congress at Albany to 
devise the best means of defending the country against the French. 
He drew up a plan of union for defence and general government, 
which was adopted by the congress. It was however rejected by 
the board of trade in England, because it gave too much power to 
the representatives of the people; and it was rejected by the assem- 
blies of the colonies, because it gave too much power to the president 
general. After the defeat of Braddock he was appointed colonel of 
a regiment, and he repaired to the frontiers, and built a fort. In 
1757 he was sent to England as the agent of Pennsylvania and 
while residing there was appointed agent of Massachusetts, Mary- 
land, and Georgia. He now received the reward of his philosophi- 
cal merit. He was chosen a fellow of the royal society, and was 
honored with the degree of doctor of laws by the universities of St. 
Andrews, Edinburgh, and Oxford, and his correspondence was 
sought by the most eminent philosophers of Europe. During his 
residence in England he published a pamphlet, showing the ad- 
vantages, which would spring from the conquest of Canada, and he 
formed that elegant instrument, which he called the Harmonica. 
He i-eturned in 1762, and resumed his seat in the assembly ; but 
in 1764 was again sent to London as an agent for the province to 
procure a change of the proprietary government. In 1766 he was 
examined at the bar of the house of commons respecting the repeal 
of the stamp act ; and here he evinced the utmost self possession 
and an astonishing accuracy and extent of information. During the 



FRA. ^97 

ame and the following year, by visiting Holland, Germany, and 
France he became acquainted with roost of the literary characters 
of Europe. About the year 1773 some letters of Hutchinson, Ol- 
iver, and others in Massachusetts falling into his hands, he sent them 
to the legislature of that state ; but he ever refused to tell how he 
procured them. He returned to America in 1775 and the day after 
his arrival was elected a member of congress. He was sent to 
the camp before Boston to confirm the army in their decisive meas- 
ures, and to Canada to persuade the citizens to join in the common 
cause. In this mission however he was not successful. He was in 
1776 appointed a committee with John Adams and Edward Rutledge 
to inquire into the powers, with which lord Howe was invested in 
regard to the adjustment of our differences with Great Britain. 
When his lordship expressed his concern at being obliged to dis- 
tress those, whom he so much regarded, Dr. Franklin assured him 
that the Americans, out of reciprocal regard, would endeavor to 
lessen, as much as possible, the pain, which he might feel on their 
account, by taking the utmost care or themselves. In the discus- 
sion of the great question of independence he was decidedly in fa- 
vor of the measure. He was in the same year chosen president of 
the convention, which met in Philadelphia to form a new constitu- 
tion for Pennsylvania. The single legislature and the plural execu- 
tive seem to have been his favorite principles. In the latter end of 
year 1776 he was sent to France to assist in negotiation with Mr. 
Arthur Lee and Silas Deane. He had much influence :in forming 
the treaty of alliance and commerce, which was signed February 6, 
1778, and he afterwards completed a treaty of amity and commerce 
with Sweden. In conjunction with Mr. Adams, Mr. Jay, and Mr. 
Laurens, he signed the provsional articles of peace November 30, 
1782, and the definitive treaty September 30, 1783. While he was 
in France he was appointed one of the commissioners to examine 
Mesmer's animal magnetism in 1784. Being desirous of returning 
to his native country he requested, that an ambassador might be ap- 
pointed in his place, and on the arrival of his successor, Mr. Jeffer- 
son, he immediately sailed for Philadelphia, where he arrived in 
September 1785. He was received with universal applause, and 
was soon appointed president of the supreme executive council. In 
1787 he was a delegate to the grand convention, which formed the 
constitution of the United States. Some of the articles, which com- 
posed it, did not altogether please him, but for the sake of union he 
signed it. In the same year he was appointed the first president of 
two excellent societies, which were established in Philadelphia for 
alleviating the miseries of public prisons, and for promoting the ab- 
olition of slavery . A memorial of the latter society to congress gave 
occasion to a debate, in which an attempt was made to justify the slave 
trade. In consequence of this Dr. Franklin published in the fede- 
ral gazette March 35, 1789 an essay, signed historicus, communi- 
39 



29S f RA. 

eating a pretended speech, delivered in the divan of Algiers in I6iT 
aguinst the petition of a sect, called Erika or Purists, lor the aboli- 
tion of piracy and slavery. The arguments, urged in favor of the 
African trade by Mr. Jackson of Georgia, are here applied with 
equal force to justify the plundering and enslaving of Europeans. In 
1788 he retired wholly from public life, and he now approached the 
end of his days. He had been afflicted ior a number of years with 
a complication of disorders. For the last twelve months he was 
confined almost entirely to his bed. In the severity of his pains he 
would observe, that he was afraid he did not bear them as he ought, 
and he expressed a grateful sense of the many blessings, received 
from the Supreme Doing, who had raised him from his humble ori- 
gin to such consideration among men. He died April 17, 1790, in 
the eighty fifth year of his age. The following epitaph was writte» 
by himself many years previously to his death. 

The body of 
Benjamin Franklin, printer, 
Like the cover of an old book. 
Its contents torn out, 
And stript of its lettering and gilding, 
Lies here food for worms ; 
Yet the work itself shall not be lost, 
For it will, (as he believed), appear once more 
In a new 
And more beautiful edition, 
Corrected and amended 
by 
The Author. 
But although he thus expressed his hope of future happiness; yet 
from his memoirs it does not appear, whether this hope was found- 
ed upon the mediation'of Jesus Christ. Some have even considered 
him as not unfriendly to infidelity ; but the following anecdote seems 
to prove, that in his old age he did not absolutely reject the scrip- 
tures. As a young gentleman was one day ridiculing religion as si 
vulgar prejudice, he appealed to Dr. Frankliw, expecting his appro- 
bation. " Young man," said the philosopher emphatically," it is best 
to believe." President Stiles addressed a letter to him, dated Jan- 
uary 28, 1790, in which he expressed a desire to be made acquaint- 
ed with his sentiments on Christianity. The following is an extract 
from it. " You know. Sir, I am a Christian ; and would to heaven, 
all others were as I am except my imperfections. As much as I 
know of Dr. Franklin, I have not an idea of his religious sentiments. 
I wish to know the opinion of my venerable friend coi>cerning Jesus 
of Nazareth. He will not impute this to impertinence, or improper 
curiosity in one, who for many years has continued to love, esti- 
mate, and reverence his abilities and literary character with an ardor 
of affection. If I have said too much, let the request be blotted out 



FRA. S»9 

and be no more." To this Dr. Franklin replied March 9, but a fe\r 
weeks betore his death. " I do not take your curiosity amiss, and 
shall endeavor, in a few words, to gratify it.— As to Jesus of Naza- 
reth, my opinion of whom you particularly desire, I think the sys- 
tem of morals and his religion, as he left them to us, the best the 
world ever saw, or is Ukely to see ; but I apprehenu it has received 
various corrupting changes ; and I have, with most of the present 
dissenters in England, some doubts as to his divinity." It may not 
be unnecessary to remark, that, if we may credit Dr. Priestley, 
Dr. Franklin was iK>t correct in estimating the sentiments of a ma- 
jority of the dissenters in England. He left one son, governor 
William Franklin of New Jersey, a zealous royalist, and a daughter, 
who married Mr. William Bache, merchant in Philadelphia. 

Dr. Franklin acquired a high and deserved reputation asa philos- 
■ephcr, for his philosophy was of a practical and useful kind, and he 
seemed to be continually desirous of advancing the welfare ot socie- 
ty. In company he was sententious and not fluent, and he cliose 
rather to listen to others, than to talk himself. Impatient of inter- 
ruption, he often mentioned the custom of the Indians, who always 
remain silent for some time before they give an answer to a ques- 
tion. When he resided in France as a minister from this country, 
it has been thought, that he was somewhat intoxicated by the un- 
bounded applauses, which he received, and was too much disposed 
to adopt the manners of the French. One of his colleagues was 
immersed in the pleasures of a voluptuous city, and between him- 
self and the other, Mr. Lee, there was some collision. 

Soon after his death, his grandson went to England to publish a 
complete collection of his writings, with his life, brought down by 
himself to the year 1757, and continued by one of his decendants. 
But on account of the want of encouragement the manuscripts have 
as yet been withheld from the public, though they are not lost. He 
published experiments and observations on electricity, made at 
Philadelphia, in two parts, 4to, 1753; new experiments, 1754; a 
historical view of the constitution and government of Pennsylvania, 
1759 ; the interest of Great Britain considered with respect to her 
colonies, 1760; his experiments with the addition of explanatory 
notes, and letters and papers on philosophical subjects, 1769 ; political, 
miscellaneous, and philosophical pieces, 1779 ; and several papers in 
the transactions of the American philosophical society. Two vol- 
umes of his essays, with his life, brought down by himself to the year 
1730, were published in England in 1792. A collection of his works 
was first published in London in 1 806, entitled, the complete works in 
philosophy, politics, and morals of Dr. Franklin, first collected and 
arranged, with a memoir of him, 3 vol. 8vo. — Franklin* s life ; En- 
cyclo/iedia, Philadclfihia edit.,, supplement ; Holmes' life ofStihft, 309, 
310 ; Monthly anthology ,, iii. 662 ; Warren's Jmerican revolution^ ri. 
132,133; Bardie's biog. did. ; Bris.iot, nou-veau voyage, i. 3 1 1 — ^^337 ; 
Monthly reviefi', new series, Ivii. 44 1, 442, 



300 FRE. 

FRELINGHUYSEN (Theodorus Jacobus), minister of tnc 
reformed Dutch church dt Karituu, New Jersey, cume from Hollar, ' 
in{the year 1720. His zealous labors in preaci.mg ttie pure doctrine - 
of tne gospel, especially in inculcating the necessity of an entirt, 
renovation ot the corrupt heart, were eminently useful in a number 
of towns. He was a member ot the assembly of Dutch ministers in 
1738, which formed the plan of a coetus, or assembly of nunisters 
and elders to meet in this country, though subordinate to the classis 
of Amsterdam. This proposition convulsed the Dutch churches ' 
in America, for it was apprehended, and the apprehension was ver- 
ified, that these churches would be led in time to throw off entirely 
their subjection to a distant ecclesiastical body. Mr. Frelinghuy sen 
was an able, evangelical, and eminently successful preacher. He 
left five sons, all ministers, and two daughters married to ministers. 
—Christiari^s magazine, ii. 4, 5 ; Prince's Christian history for 1744; 
292,299. 

FRIbBIE (Levi), minister of Ipswich, Massachusetts, was bom 
at Branford, Connecticut, in April 1748, and at the age of sixteen 
or i.eventeen, having the character of a pious youth of promising 
talents, was placed under the patronage of the reverend Dr. Wheel- 
ock, with a special view to the missionary service. In 1767 he en- 
tered Yale college, where he continued more than three years ; 
but lus coUegial studies were completed at Dartn)Outh college, 
where he was graduated, in the first class, in 177 1 . He was ordain- 
ed in 1775, and then commenced his missionary career. Alter 
extending his labors to different parts of the country and into Can- 
ada, the convulsed state of America obstructed his progress. He 
was settled the minister of the first church in Ipswich, as successor 
of the reverend Nathaniel Rogers, February 7, 1776, and after 
a ministry of thirty years he died February 25, 1806, in the fifty 
eighth year of his age. He was a faithful, evangelical preacher, 
whose labors at different periods it pleased God to render eminently 
useiul. His discerning mind was strengthened by a close applica- 
tion to study, and lurnished with the most useful knowledge ; and 
all his acquisitions were consecrated to moral and religious purpos- 
es His life displayed the humility, meekness, and benevolence of 
the Cnristian. Interesting and instructivv. in conversation, remark- 
ably tender of the character of others, upright, sincere, and affec- 
tion ite in all the relations of life, he was respected and beloved. 
His distrust of himself led him to place his entire dependence up- 
on God, and to ascribe all hope to the riches of divine mercy in Je- 
aiis, the Redeemer. He published an oration on the peace, 1783 ; 
an oration at the interment of the reverend Moses Parsons, 1784 ; 
two sermons on a day of public fasting ; a thanksgiving sermon ; a 
eulogy on Washington, 1800; a sermon before the society for 
propagating the gospel among the American Indians, 1804.— //«/.V- 
ington's funeral sermon ,• Panoplist, i. 471, 472. 



FRO. mx 

FRONTENAC (Louis, count), governor general of Canada, 
succeeded Courcelles in 1672, and in the spring ot the following 
year built upon lake Ontario the fort, which bore his name. He 
was recalled in 1682, but was reinstated in his office in 1689. He 
died November 28, 1698, in the seventy eighth year of his age. 
His exertions conduced in a great degree to the protection and pros- 
perity of Canada ; but he was a man of haughty feelings, suspicious, 
revengeful, aud outrageous. Notwithstanding his professions of re- 
gard to religion, it was very evident, that he was almost completely 
under the influence of ambition.— C//ar/ex'Oi!x-, hist. nouv. I'rance^ i. 
444 — 469, 543 — 570 ; ii. 43, 237 j Hohnes* minalSf ii. 46. 

GADSDEN (Christopher), lieutenant governor of South 
Carolina, and a distinguished friend of his country, was born about 
the year 1724. So high was his reputation in the colony, in which 
he lived, that he was appointed one oi the aelegatesto the congress, 
which metat New Yorkin October 1765 to petition against the stamp 
act. He was also chosen a member oi the congress, which met in 1774, 
and on his return early in 1776 received the thanks of the provincial as- 
sembly for his services. He was among the first, who openly advo- 
cated republican principles, and wished to make his country inde- 
pendent of the monarchical government of Great Britain. " The 
decisive genius," says Ramsay, " of Christopher Gadsden in the 
south and of John Adams in the north at a much earlier day might 
have desired a complete separation of America from Great Britain ; 
but till the year 1776, the rejection ofthe second petition of congress, 
and the appearance of Paine's pamphlet, common sense, a reconcilia- 
tion with the mother country was the unanimous wish of almost 
every other American." During the siege of Charleston in 1780 he 
remained within the lines with five of the covmcil, while governor 
Rutledge, with the other three, left the city at the earnest request 
of general Lincoln. Several months after the capitulation he was 
taken out of his bed on the twenty seventh of August, and with 
most of the civil and military officers transported in a guard 
ship to St. Augustine. This was done by the order of lord Corn- 
wallis, and it was in violation of the rights of prisoners on parole. 
Guards were left at their houses, and the private papers of some of 
them were examined. A parole was offered at St. Augustine ; but 
such was the indignation of lieutenant governor Gadsden at the im- 
generous treatment, which he had received, that he refused to ac- 
cept it, and bore a close confinement in the castle for forty two 
weeks with the greatest fortitude. In 1782, when it became neces- 
sary, by the rotation established, to choose a new governor, he was 
elected to this office ; but he declined it in a short speech to the fol- 
lowing effect. " I have served you in a variety of stations for thirty 
years, and I would now cheerfully make one of a forlorn hope in an 
assault on the lines of Charleston, if it was probable, that with the 
loss of my life you would be reinstated in the possession of your 



3b2 GAG. 

capital. What I can do for my country I am willing to d». My 
sentiments of the Ainericui cause from the stamp act downwards 
have never changed. I am stili of opinion, that it is the cause of 
libeny and of human nature. — The present times require the vigor 
and activity of the prime of life ; but I feel the increasing infirmities 
of old age to such a degree, that 1 am conscious 1 Cannot sei-ve you 
to advantage. I therefore beg for your sakes and for the sake of 
the public, that you would indulge me with the liberty of declining 
the arduous trust." He continued, however, his exertions for the 
good of his country both in the assembly and council, and notwith- 
standing the injuries he had suffered ard the immense loss of his prop- 
erty he zealously opposed the law for confiscating the estates of the 
■adherents to the British government, and contended that sound pol- 
icy required to forgive and forget. He died in September 1805, 
aged eighty one years. — Boiven's fun. scrmoji ; Ramsai/s Carolina^ 
i. 35, 55, 61, 164. ; ii. 125, 161, 167, 349 ; Warren., ii. 348 — 350 ; 
Gordoriy iv. 25 6. 

GAGE (Thomas), the last governor of Massachusetts appointed 
Tsy the king, after the conquest of ('anada in 1760 was appointed 
governor of Montreal. At the departure of general Amherst in 
1763, he succeeded him as commander in chief of his majesty's 
forces in America. Being considered as the most proper person 
to execute the parliamentary laws, intended to su.xlue the rebell- 
ious spirit, which had manilested itself in Massachusetts, he was 
appointed governor of that province, and arrived at Boston May 1 3, 
1774. He was a suitable instrument for executing the purposes 
«f a tyrannical ministry and parliament. Several regiments soon 
followed him, and he began to repair the fortifications upon Boston 
neck. The powder in the arsenal in Charlestown was seized ; de- 
tachments were sent out to take possession of the stores in Salem 
and Concord ; and the battle of Lexington became the signal of war. 
In May 1775 the provincial congress of Massachusetts declared 
f;eneral Gage to be an inveterate enemy of the country, disqualified 
from serving the colony as governor, and unworthy of obedience. 
From this time the excercise of his functions was confined to Bos- 
ton. In .Tune he issued a proclamation, oiTering pardon to all the 
rebels, excepting Samuel Adams and John Hancock, and ordered 
the use of the martial law. But the affair of Bunker's hill a few 
days afterwards proved to him, that he had mistaken the character 
of the Americans. In October he embarked for England, and was 
succeeded in the command by sir William Howe. His conduct to- 
'wards the inhabitants of Boston in promising them lilicrty to leave 
the town on the delivery of their arms, and then detaining many of 
them, has been reprobated for its treachery. He died in England in 
April 1787. — Strdman, i, 95 — 1 10 ; Gordon,\. 360, 487 ; ii. 25, 53, 
136 ; Holmes' ammh, ii. 246, 308, 480 ; MarnhaU^ i. 391, 446 ; l\. 
163, 185,276; iii. 21; Warren., \. 127—132,241. 



GAL. 508 

GALLOWAY (Joseph), an eminent lawyer of Pennsylvania, 
teas a member of the assembly of that province in May 1764, wuen 
the subject of a petition in favor of a change oi the government from 
that of a proprietary to a royal government was discussed. John Dick- 
inson was opposed to the peiiiion and Mr. Galloway answered his 
speech with much warmth. Both speeches were printed, and Mr, 
Dickinson, after an ineffectual challenge, wr* tc his" answer to a piece, 
called the speech of Joseph Galloway, esquire." After having 
been for some time speaker of the house ot assembly, he was ap- 
pointed a member of the first congress in 1774. He afterwards 
deserted the Amei'ican cause, joining the British at New York in 
December 1776, and remaining with the army till June 1778. His. 
counsels and exertions were of little avail against the resolute spirit 
of millions, determined to be free. By his own account he abandon- 
ed an estate of the value of forty thousand pounds sterling. In 1 779 
he was examined before the house of commons on the transactions 
in America, and his representation did not do much credit to the 
British commanders. He died in England in September 1803, in the 
seventy fourth year of his age. The preface to his speech, which 
was published in 1 764, was written by Dr. Franklin, who supported the 
same cause. It presents a history of the proprietary government. 
Mr. Galloway published also observations on the conduct of sir 
William Howe, in which, notwithstanding his attachments, he dis- 
closes and reprehends the shocking brutality of the British troops, 
especially in New Jersey. The following work, it is believed, is 
the production of his pen ; brief commentaries upon such parts of 
the revelation and other prophecies, as immediately refer to the 
present times, London, 1802.-— Collect, hist. soc. ii. 93 ; Warren i» 
376, 440 ; Monthly rev. xxxii. 67 ; Ixi. 71 ; Franklin's works, in. 163. 

GANO (John), minister in New York, collected the first baptist 
society in that city, and was ordained its pastor in 1762. Early es- 
pousing the cause of his country in the late contest with Great Brit- 
ain, at the commencement of the war he joined the standard of free- 
dom in the capacity of chaplain. His preaching contributed to im- 
part a determined spirit to the soldiers, and he continued in the 
army till the conclusion of the war. He left his society in New 
York in 1788, and removed to Kentucky. He died at Frankfort 
August 10, 1804, in the seventy eighth year of his age, resigned to 
the divine will, and in the hope of everlasting blessedness in the 
presence of his Redeemer. Memoirs of his life, written principal- 
ly by himself, were published in 12mo, 1806. — Gajio's memoirs i 
Monthly ajithology, i. 525 ; Backus' abridg. 258. 

GARDEN (Alexander, M.D.), a scientific physician of South 
Carolina, was a member of the royal society at Upsal. He in- 
troduced into medical use the Virginia pink root, and published 
in the year 1764 an accotxnt of its medical properties, and gave^ 
a botanical description of the plant. An edition of this work wa'i 



304 GAR. 

also published in 1772. He was much devoted to the study of nat- 
ural history, particularly of botany, and made a number of commu- 
nications on those subjects to his pliilosophical friends in Europe. 
In com])liment to him the greatest botanist of the age gave the 
name of Gardenia to one of the most beautiful flowering shrubs in 
the world. He died, it is believed, in the year 1771.— /^am«cy'« re- 
view of medicine, 42, 44 ; Miller's retroaftect, i. 319. 

GARDEN (Alexander), minister in Charleston, about the 
middle of the 1-ist century made several publications on theological 
subjects. — Miller^ ii. 365. 

GATES (Horatio), a major general in the army of the United 
States, was a native of England. In early life he entered the Brit- 
ish army, and laid the foundation of his future military excellence. 
Without purchase he obtauied the rank of major. He was aid to 
general Monkton at the capture of Martinico, and after the peace of 
Aix la Chapelle he was among the first troops, which landed at Hal- 
ifax under general Cornwallis. He was with Braddock at the time 
of his defeat in 1755, and was shot through the Ijody. When peace 
was concluded, he purchased an estate in Virginia, where he resided 
until the commencement of the American war in 1775, when he 
Was appointed by congress adjutant :^eneral, with the rank of brig- 
adier general. He accompanied Washington to Cambridge, when 
he went to take the command of tlie army in that place. In June 
1776 Gates was appointed to the command of the army of Canada. 
He was superseded by general Schuyler in May 1777, but in Au- 
gust following he took the phice of this officer in the northern de- 
partment. The success, which attended his arras in the capture of 
Burgoyne in October, filled America with joy. Congress passed 
a vote of thanks, and ordered a medal of gold to be presented by 
the president. His conduct towards his conquered enemy was 
marked by a delicacy, which does him the highest honor. He did 
not permit his own troops to witness the mortification of the British 
in depositing their arms. After general Lincoln was taken prison- 
er, he was appointed on the thirteenth of June 1780 to the com- 
mand of the southern department. On the sixteenth of August 
he was defeated by Cornwallis at Camden. He was superseded on 
the third of December by general Greene ; but was in 1782 re» 
stored to his command. 

After the peace he retired to his farm in Berkley county, Vit 
ginia, where he remained until the year 1790, when he went t<! 
reside at New York, having first emancipated his slaves, and made 
a pecuniary provision for such, as were not able to provide fot 
themselves. Some of thetn would not leave him, but continued in 
his family. On his arrival at New York the freedom of the city 
was presented to him. In 1 800 he accepted a seat in the legis- 
lature, but he retained it no longer, than he conceived his services 
might be useful to the cause of liberty, which he never abandoned. 



GAY. 305 

His political opinions did not separate him from many respectable 
citizens, whose views differed widely from his own. He died April 
10, 1806, in the seventy eighth year of his age. A few weeks before 
his death he wrote to his friend. Dr. Mitchiil, then at Washington, 
on some business, and closed his letter, dated February 27, 1806, 
with the following words. " I am very weak, and haVe evident 
signs of an approaching dissolution. But I have lived lon^ enough, 
since 1 have lived to see a mighty people animated with a spirit to 
be free, and governed by transcendent abilities and hoD^r." He 
retained his faculties to the last. He took pleasui'e ia professing 
his attachment to religion and hi's firm belief in the doctrines of 
Christianity. The will, which was made not long before his death, 
exhibited the humility of his faith. In an article dictated by himself, 
he expressed a sense of his own unworthiness, and his reliance 
solely on the intercession and sufferings of the Redeemer. In 
another paragraph he directed, that his body should be privately bu- 
ried, which was accordingly done. General Gates was a whig in 
England and a republican in America. He was a scholar, well 
versed in history and the Latin classics. While he was just, hos- 
pitable, and generous, and possessed a feeling heart, his manners 
and deportment yet indicated his military character. — JVew York 
spectator ^ Jpril \9, 1806; Daily advertiser^ j^/iril 12 ; Polyanthos, 
iii. 12 — 17 ; Marshall, ii. 237 ; iii. 3, 226, 273, 336 ; iv. 169 — 182, 
334, 596 ; BHssot^ nouv, voy. ii. 50 ; Stedman^ i. 336, 342 ; ii. 
200,233; Gordon, ii. 276, 572 ; iii. 391, 439, 472 ; iv. 26. 

GAY (Ebenezer, d. d.), minister of Hingham, Massachusetts, 
was born August 26, 1696. He was graduated at Harvard college 
in 1714, and ordained June 11, 1718. After continuing his labors 
in the ministry for almost an unequalled length of time, he died 
March 18, 1787 in the ninety first year of his age, and the sixty 
ninth of his ministry. He was succeeded by the reverend Dr. 
Ware. His mental powers were continued to him in an uncom- 
mon degree till his der.th. On the day, which completed the eigh- 
ty fifth year of his age, he preached a sermon, Avhich was much 
celebrated and was reprinted in England. Dr. Chauncy pronounces 
him to have been one of the greatest and most valuable men in the 
country. His sentiments were not so rigid as those of some of his 
brethren in the ministry ; but he was zealous for the interests of 
practical goodness. He published a sermon at the ordination of 
the reverend Joseph Green, 1725 ; at the artillery election, 1728 ; 
on the transcendent glory of the gospel, to which is added a pillar 
of salt to season a corrupt age, a sermon to bring Lot's wife to 
remembrance, 1728 ; on the death of the reverend John Hancock, 
1744; election sermon, 1745 ; a sermon at the annual convention 
of ministers, 1746 ; at the ordination of the reverend Jonathan 
Dorby, 1752 j at the instalment of the reverend Ezra Carpenter, 
1753 ; of reverend Grindal Rawson, 1756 ; Dudleian lecture, 
40 



SO'G CEE. 

i759 ; two sermons on the death of the reverend Dr. Mayhcw, 
1766 ; at the ordination ot the reverend Caleb Gannett, 1768 ; a 
thimkst^iving sermon, 1771 ; the old man's calendar, a sermon on 
Joshua xiv. 10, preaciied on the birthday of the author, 1781 — 
Shute's funeral sermon ; Collectio7is hist, soc.x. \ 59 ; Masaachusett* 
ceyttinel, March 30, 1787. 

GEE (Joshua), minister in Boston, was graduated at Harvard 
college in 1717. He was ordained pastor of the second or old north 
church, as colleague with Dr. Cotton Matlier, December 18, 1723. 
In 1732 he received for his coilcai^ue Mr. Samuel Mather, and he 
died May 22, I748,a'^ed Hity years. He poss,issed a strong and 
penetrating mind. His powers of reasoning were very uncommon. 
Few were more discerning, or could more completely develop a 
subject. He possessed also a considerable share of learning. His 
foil)le was a strange indolence of temper. He preferred talking 
with his friends to every thing else. He published in 1 743 a letter 
to the reverend Nathaniel Eeils, moderator of v. convention of pas- 
tors in Boston, containing some remarks on their printed testimony 
against disorders in the land. From this pamphlet it appears, that 
there was present in the convention not one third of the pastors of 
Massachusetts, and that of these, seventy in number, but a small 
majority voted for the last paragraph of the testimony, which caused 
such debites respecting an attestiition to the work of God's grace 
appearing of late years in a renv\rkable revival of religion among 
the churches. Mr. Gee complains of the testimony, that it is par- 
tial, that it speaks of the prevalence of antinomian but not of Ar- 
minian errors, that it holds up to viev/ the disorders consequent 
upon the revival, and not the great and beneficial effects of the re- 
vival itself; he complains of the convention, that they admitted 
pastors, who did not live in the province, to vote, and rudely inter- 
rupted pastors, wlio wished to represent the happy influence of the 
revival in places, where they were acquainted, in rendering men 
better and promotino: the interests of morality and order. Fie was 
one of the assembly of ministers, who met in Boston July 7, 1743, 
and gave their attestation to the progress of religion in this coun- 
try. He published also a sermon on the death of Dr. Cotton 
Mather,! 1 728 ; two sermons entitled, the strait gate and the narrow 
Vf-Ky infinitely preferable to the wide gate and the broad way, 1729. 
— Collccii'mn ofth^ histor. aocuty^x. 137 ; Prince's Christian history^ 
i. 164. 

GEORGIA, one of the United Slates of America, was originally 
a part of Carolina. It was granted to twenty one trustees on the 
ninth of June 1732 by king George II, and received its name in 
honor of him. The design of the founders of tins colony was 
most benevolent and generous. It Avas intended to strengthen the 
province of Carolina, to open ..n asylimi for the oppressed, and to 
'Attempt the conversion of the natives. The parliament gave ten 



GEO. 30^. 

diousand pounds to encourage the design. The territory was by 
charter erected into a separate and independent govenunent for 
twenty one years, at the expiration ol which period such a torm of 
government was to be established, as the king should appoint. The 
ti'ustees engaged immediately in the prosecution of tlieir design. 
Large contributions were obtained for the assistance of the poor, 
who should engage in the settlement. On the hfteenth of January 
1733 James Ogiethorpe, one of the trustees, at the head of up- 
wards of a hundred persons, arrived at Carolina. He proceeded 
immediately to Savannah river, and having fixed upon a spot for 
commencing the plantation, Ins people joinea ium on the first of 
February. On the niath with the assistance of colonel William 
Bull from Ashley river he laid out the streets, squares, and forty 
lots lor liouses, and the town was called Savannah, ailer the river, so 
denominated by the Vidians. A fort was soon completed for t,he 
safety of the colony, and a treaty was concluded with the eight 
ttibes of tiie Jower Creeh Indians. Every thmg seemed to promise 
future prosperity ; but some regulations \vere established, which 
tended to retard its growtii, although considerable accessions were 
received from Scotland and Germany. In 1737 the depiedations, 
commuted oy the Spaniards on the English by sea, threatening a 
war between t!ie two "powers, a regiment of six hundred men was 
sent to Georgia for the protection of that colony. In 1742 the 
Spaniards from Florida invaded Georgia with near six thousand 
men, including Indians ; but the military skill of Oglethorpe^ un- 
der a kind providence, was the means of saving the colony. The 
charter was surrendered by the trustees to the king in 1752 in con- 
sequence of the languishing state of the colony and of the com- 
plaints of the people. The fundamental regulations were ill adapted 
to the circumstances of the poor settlers, and to .the situation of 
the territory. The restrictions upon tlie descent of cbtates drove 
settlers to other colonies, where lands could be obtained on better 
terms, and held by a better tenure. By the prohibition of negroes 
the culture of the lands was rendered difficult, and by forbidding 
the importation of rum, the colonists were cut oft" froin much- 
trade with the West Indies, as well as from an article, which was. 
thought necessary to health, especially by those, whose taste was 
eager for it. A royal government was now established, and the 
people were favored with tlie same privileges, which were enjoyed 
by their neighbors in Carolina. 

J'rom 1752 to the peace of Paris in 1763 Georgia struggled with 
many difticiUties, arising from the want of credit, and the frequent 
molestations of enemies. The good effects of the peace were 
soon perceived. From this time it fiom'ished under th.e care of 
governor Wright. This colony united with the other colonies in 
opposition to Great Britain in the summer of 1775, and appointed 
Relegates to attend the continental congress. During the war it 



308 GIS. 

was overran by the British troops, and the inhabitants were obliged 
to flee into the neighborhig states for safety. Since the war popu- 
lation, agriculture, and commerce have increased with great ra- 
pidity, though the frontiers have suffered much from the frequent 
attacks of the Creek Indians. A treaty was conckided with them 
by the United States on the thirteenth of August 1790, since which 
time immigrations have been numerous. 

Georgia by an act of the legishiture, passed January 7, 1795, sold 
to four different companies about twenty two million acres of its 
western territory, and the purchase money, amounting to five hun- 
di'ed thousand dollars, was paid into the state treasury. By an act 
of the next legislature, passed February 13, 1796, the law relating 
to the sale of the said lands was declared, on the i;roimd of brilicry 
and corruption, unconstitutional and void, and the records were or- 
dered to be burned. By these proceedings the purchasers, vmder 
the original companies, were placed in a most unpleasant situation. 
The constitution of Georgia was revised and adopted in its present 
form by a convention of the state May 30, 17P8. By the articles 
of this constitution the governor is to be elected by the general as- 
sembly, for the term of two yea^s ; tne judges of the superior 
court to be chosen for the term of three years, and to be liable to 
removal by the governor on the address of two thirds of both houses 
of the legislature. In ether respects the constitution of this state 
differs but little from that of Massachusetts.— A^oj-s^'* geog.; 
Jleivatt's hist, account of S. Carolina and Georgia ; IVynne, ii. S01-— 
315 ; Encyclofiediaf Phil. edit. ; British emjdre in America.^ i. 525— 
541 ; Holmes' anrmls, ii. 131, 188. 

GIST (MoRDECAi), a brigadier general in the American war, 
commanded one of the Maryland brigades in the battle of Camden 
August 16, 1780. He died at Charleston, South Carolina, in Sep- 
tember, 17 9Z. —> Marshall^ iv. 178 ; Holmes* annals, ii. 431. 

GODFREY (Thomas), the inventor of Hadley's quadrant, was 
by trade a glazier in the city of Philadelphia. The extent of his 
educatioii was only to read, and write, and apply the common rules 
of arithmetic. Having met with a mathematical book, he was so 
delighted with the study, that without an instructer, by the mere 
strength of his genius he soon made himself master of it, and of 
every book of the kind, which he could procure in English. Find- 
ing that the knowledge of the Latin would open to him new treas- 
ures of mathematical science, he applied himself to the study of 
that language till he was enabled to lead a Latin author on iiis fa- 
vorite subject. He thon borrowed Newton's principia of Mr. Lo- 
gan, to whom about the year 1730 he communicated his invention 
of the quadrant. The royal society of London, being made acquaint- 
ed with it by means of Mr. Logan, sent Mr. (Godfrey as a reward 
household furniture to the value of two hundred pounds. The 
money was not sent on account of a habit of intemperance, to which 



GOD. 309 

the artist was subject. The manner, m which the inventor was de- 
prived of the honor of having the instrument called by his name, 
was the following. He put it for trial into the hands of an inge- 
nious navigator in a voyage to Jamaica. On reaching that place, it 
was shown to the captain of a ship, about sailing to England, by 
which means it came to the knowledge of Mr. Hadley. These 
facts seem to be well established. Mr. Godfrey died in Philadel- 
phia about the middle oi December 1749, He was a member of 
a literary club, established by Dr. Franklin, and having confined his 
attention to mathematical pursuits, he was almost insufferable in 
conversation, requiring an unusual precision in every thing, which 
was said, continually contradicting, and making trifling distinctions. 
— 'Miller^ s retrospect^ i. 468 ; American magazine for July and Au' 
gust<, 173 8 ; Franklin's life ; Preface to Godjrty's fioems. 

GODFREY (Thomas), a poet, was the son of the preceding, and 
was born in Philadelphia in 1736. The only advantages of educa- 
tion, which he enjoyed, were found in a conmion English school. 
Such however was his desire oi knowledge, that he prosecuted his 
studies with unwearied diligence ; and having perused the best of 
the English poets, he soon exhibited proofs of poetical talents. He 
had a fine ear for music, and a propensity to painting. After the 
death of his father, he Avas put an apprentice to an ingenious watch- 
maker ; but the muses and graces, poetry and painting stole his at- 
tention. He devoted all his hours of release from mechanical la- 
bor to writing those pieces, which were published with such favor- 
able notice in the American magazine. At length he was recom- 
mended to a lieutenant's commission in the Pennsylvania forces, 
raised in 1758 for an expedition against fort du Quesne. In this 
station he continued till the troops were disbanded. He was settled 
in the succeeding spring as a factor in North Carolina, where he 
continued upwards of three years. He died near Wilmington of a 
fever, occasioned by violent exercise in a very warm day, August 3, 
1763, in the twenty seventh year of his age. With an amiable 
disposition, and an engaging diffidence and modesty of manners, he 
united an integrity of character, which procured him esteem and 
respect. The productions of his pen, which cxliibit more of na- 
ture than of the refinements of art, were collected by his friend, Mr, 
Evans, and published in 1765, entitled, juvenile poems on various 
subjects, with the prince of Parthia, a tragedy, 4to. — Account pre- 
fixed to poems ; American museum^ vi. 471, 472. 

GOERING (Jacob), many years minister of the German Lu- 
theran church in York, Pennsylvania, commenced the labors of the 
sacred oflice, when oidy twenty years of age, and it pleased God 
to give such success to his faithful exertions at this early period of 
life, that a revival of religion took place wherever he preached. 
He died in 1807 in the fifty third year of his age. He was presi- 
dent of the svnod of the German Luthenui church in the states of 



310 GOF. 

Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia. In his character vrert 
combmed tlic Ciiristian, the gentleman, and liie scholar. He was a 
man ol profound erudition ; and among the languages, with which 
he was acquainted,' the Hebrew and Arabic weie his favorites. 
Though Warmly interested in his country's welfare, he yet declined 
a civil station, in which his fellow citizens would gladly have placed 
him, dedicating himself wholly to the ministiy. He died in the 
full assurance of obtaining and enjoying a perpetual happiness 
through the merits of his Redeemer.-— A'row/i'i' yJ'nerican reginter^ 
ii, 84, 85. 

GOl'FE (William), one of tho judges of IJng Charles I, and 
a major general under Cionnvell, left London before Charles II 
was proclaimed, and arrived at Boston witn general VVhalley in Ju- 
ly 1660. Governor Endicot gave them a friendly reception. But 
when the act of indemnity arrived in November, and their names 
were not lound among those, to whom pardon was offered, the gov- 
ernment ol Massachusetts was alarmed. Perceiving their danger, 
they lelt Cambridge, where thoy had resided. February 26, 1661, 
and arrived at New Haven on tlie seventh of March. They were 
heie concealed ' y deputy governor Lcet, and the i everend Mr. Dav- 
enport. From New Haven tlicy went to West Rock, a mountain three 
hundred feet in height at the distance of two or three miles from the 
town, where they were hiu in a cave. They afterward lived in con- 
cealment at Miltord, Dcruy, and Branford, and in October 1664 re- 
moved to Hadley in M^-.ssuchusctts, and were concealed for fiitecn 
or sixteen years in the house of Mr. Russel, the minister. On the 
first oi September 1675 the town of Hadley was alarmed by the In- 
dians in the tiine of public worship, and the people were thrown in- 
to tne utmost confusion. But suddenly an aged, vencralile man in 
an uncommon dress appeared in the midst of t'lem, revived their 
courage, and, putliug himself at their head, led them to the attack 
and repulsed tne enemy. The deliverer of Hadley immediately 
disappeared, and the inhabitants, overwhelmed with astonishment, 
supposed that an angel had been sent for their protection. He died 
in Hadley, it is thouglit, about the vear 1679. Under the oppres- 
sion of constant fear during his residence in this country, his inind 
seems to have found s >n!C relief in the consolatio'is of religion.— ' 
Stilen' Jii^t. of the Jtidtfts ; Hutchinson, i. 2 13—2 19, 532 ; HoLmeit* 
annals, i. 377, 424, 425, 

GOODRICH (Llizur, d. d.), minister of Durliam in Connect- 
icut, was born in Wethersfield November 6, 1734, and was gradua- 
ted at Yale college in 1752. He was ordained to the work of the 
ministry Novemljer 24, 1756. After his character as an excellent 
mhuster and a friend of literature was established, he was chosen 
in 1776 a member of the corporation ot Yale college. He died at 
Norfolk in Noveml)er 1797, in tlie sixty fourth year of his age, and 
the forty second of his ministry. Dr. Cioodrich conciliated the es» 



6oo. "sit 

teem of his acquaintance, and was faithful in all the relations of 
life. He was distinguisiied tor his literary and scientific acquire- 
ments, as weii as tor his piety and patriotism. While he was ac- 
quainted with the Latin, Greek, and Hebrew languages, he was 
not deficient in nmthernatical and pliilosophical knowledge. As a 
preacher, he followed the examples of the apostles, preaching re- 
pentance and faith. He timght his hearers that man WaS cepraved, 
and guilty, and lost, condemned by the law, and having no hope 
but in Christ, and that salvatiou was of grace and not of works. 
-—Divight's funeral servwn. 

GOOKIN (Daniel), author of the historical collections of the 
Indians in New England, and major general of Massachusetts, was 
born in the county of Kent in England. He came to Virginia in 
162 I with his father, who brought cattle to the colony from Ireland, 
and who establislicd himself at a plantation, called Newport's News. 
In the year 1642 Mr. Thomson and other ministers from Massa- 
chusetts were sent to Virginia to preach the gospel to a people, but 
little acquainted with the truth. When they were forced to with- 
draw from this colony, because they would not conform to the 
church of England, such was the attachment of Mr. Gookin to their 
preaching, that he soon followed them. In 1644 he removed with 
his family to New England, and settled in Cambridge, that he might 
enjoy the ordinances of the gospel in their purity. Soon after his 
arrival he was appointed captain oi the military company in Cam- 
bridge, and a member of the house of deputies. In 16.52 he was 
elected assistant or magistrate, and four years after was appoi/ited 
by the general court superinteiident of all the Indians, who had sub- 
mitted to the government of Massachusetts. He executed this of- 
fice with such fidelity, that he was continued in it till his death. In 
1656 he visited England, and had an interview with Cromwell, who 
commissioned him to invite the people of Massachusetts to trans- 
port themselves to Jamaica, which had been conquered from the 
Spaniards. In 1662 he was appointed, with the reverend Mr. 
Mitchel, one ot the licensers of the printing press in Cambridge. 
Vv^hen Philip's war commenced in 1675, several severe laws were 
passed against the friendly Indians, to whom religious instruction 
had been imparted, through apprehension, that they would join the 
enemy, and the rage of the people against their I'ed colored breth- 
ren was violent and alarming. Mr. Eliot stood foith as the friend 
and protector of the Inditins, and Mr. Gookin, who had zealously co- 
operated with Mr. Eliot in his benevolent exertions, and who fre- 
quently accompanied him in his missionary lours, was equally their 
friend. He was the only maa:istrate, who endeavored to prevent 
the outrapres ofthe populace. He was in consequence much abus- 
ed, and even insulted as he passed the streets ; but he haJ too much 
of the elevation of Christian virtue to feel any resentment, and the 
effects of licentiousness did not inspire him with the desire of abridg- 



312 GOO. 

intj the liberlies of the people. He soon, however, recovered. the es- 
teem and confidence, which he hud lost, by firmly resisting the at- 
tempts, which were made to destroy the charter of Massachusetts. 
In 1681 he was appointed major general of the colony, and he con- 
tinued in the magistracy till the dissolution of the charter in 1686. 
He died March 19, 1687, aged seventy five years. In the inscrip- 
tion upon his monument in the buryia;^groundin Cambridge, which 
is yet legible, his name is written Gookings. Such was his pover- 
ty, ihat Mr. liiiot in a letter to Mr. Boyle, not long after his decease, 
solicits that charitable gentleman to bestow ten pounds upon his 
widow. He was a man of good understanding, rigid in his relig- 
ious and political opinions, zealous and active, of inflerable integrity 
and exemplary piety, disinterested and benevolent, a firm patriot, 
and uniformly and peculiarly the friend of the Indians, who lament- 
ed his death with unfeigned sorrow. His two sons, Daniel and Na- 
thaniel, were ministers, the former of Sherburne, whose care ex- 
tended also to the Indians at Natick, and the latter of Cambridge, 
who was ordained November 15, 1682, and died August 7, 1692 in 
the thirty fourth year of his age. He was succeeded by Mr. Brattle. 

Mr. Gookin wrote in 1674 historical collections of the Indians in 
New England, which remained in manuscript till it was published 
in the first volume of the collections of the Missachusetts historical 
society in 1792. In this work he gives many interesting particu- 
lars of the various tribes of Indians in Missachusetts, of their cus- 
toms, manners, religion, and government, and of the exertions, 
which were made to civilize them, and to bring them to an ac- 
quaintance with the Christian religion. He also wrote a history of 
New England ; but it is not known, that the manuscript is now in 
existence. — Collect, hist, soc i. 228, 229; vii. 23 ; Holmes* hist, of 
Cambridge; and annuls,!. 418; Hutchinson, i. 136, 191,257,296, 
322 — 332 ; J\Iugnalia, ii. 2 1 ; Johnson's wonder work, firovidence^ 
109, 192 ; Stith, 205. 

GOOKIN (Nathaniel), minister of Hampton, New Hamp- 
shire, was the son of the reverend Mr. Gookin of Cambridge, and 
was graduated at Harvard college in 1703. He was ordained in 
1710 as successor of Mr. John Cotton. After a prudent and faith- 
ful ministry of about twenty four years, he died in 1734, in the for- 
ty seventh year of his age. His son Nathaniel was settled in 
North Hampton, New Hampshire, in 1739 and died in 1766, Mr. 
Gookin published three sermons occasioned by the earthcpiake in 
October 1727, to which is added an account of the earthquake, and 
something remarkable of thunder and lightning in Hampton. — Col- 
let tions hist. society,\\\. 55 ; Shurtleff's serm. at the ordination of Mr, 
Gookin, 1739. 

GORDON (William, d. d.), minister of Roxbury, Massachu- 
setts, and a historian of the American w.'.r. was .t native of Hitchin 
ih Hertfordshire, England, and had his academical education in Lon- 



GOR. 313 

don under Dr. Manyatt. He was early settled as pastor of a large 
independent church at Ipswich, where he continued in good esteem 
many years. He removed from this situation in consequence of 
some uneasiness, occasioned by his reprehension of the conduct of 
one of his principal hearers in employing his workmen on public 
business on the Lord's day. After the death of Dr. David Jennings 
he was chosen to be his successor in the church at old gravel lane, 
Wapping. Hei-e he might have continued much respected, but in 
the year 1770 his partiality to America induced him to force him- 
self away, in order to settle in this country. After having preached 
about a year to the third church in Roxbury, he was ordained its 
minister July 6, 1772. He took an active part in public measures 
during the war with Great Britain, and was chosen chaplain to the 
provincial congress of Massachusetts. While in this office he 
preached a fast sermon on Isaiah i. 26, which strongly expressed 
his political sentiments. In the beginning of the year 1776 he 
formed the design of writing a history of the great events, which 
had of late taken place in America, and which would yet be present- 
ed to the observation of mankind. Besides other sources of in- 
formation, he had recourse to the records of congress, and to those 
of New England, and was indulged with the perusal of the papers 
of Washington, Gates, Greene, Lincoln, and Otho Williams. Af- 
ter the conclusion of the war he returned to his native country in 
1786, and in 1788 published the work, which had for a number of 
years occupied his attention. After spending some time in Lon- 
don, where he had many friends, he obtained a settlement at St. 
Neots in Huntingdonshire, the place where Mr. David Edwards, 
who succeeded him in Ipswich, had been minister. This situation 
was much inferior to either of the former settlements, which he had 
enjoyed. The congregation gradually declined in consequence of 
his want of that popular address, to which they had been accustom- 
ed, and of the failure of his mental powers. The infirmity of his 
mind was at length so visible, that his friends advised his resigna- 
tion, and raised a subscription for him. He afterwards returned to 
Ipswich, where he had some agreeable connexions left. Here he 
preached a few occasional sermons ; but his memory soon failed 
him to such a degree, as to render him unfit for all public service. 
Though his sight continued so good, that he could read without 
glasses, and though his attachment to books was undiminished to 
the last ; yet he appeared to know little, and to retain nothing of 
what he read. He even lost all recollection of his most intimate 
friends. After living to experience this melancholy extinction of 
the powers of his mind, he died at Ipswich October 19, 1807, in 
the seventy eighth year of his age. 

In his religious sentiments Dr. Gordon was a strict Calvinist ; 
yet he possessed a liberal mind, and a very sociable disposition. 
He was even sometimes facetious. His abilities, which were nat- 
41. 



3U GOR. 

uralljr good, were improved by diligent study. Dr. Owen was one 
of his tavorite authors. Though his temper was warm, he Was yet 
friendly and benevolent. His sermons were composed with care ; 
but as they were written in a very systematical form, and were read 
witu slavisli adherence to his notes, he was not inieresting as a 
preacher. His fluency mi.^ht have rendered him popular, if he 
had adopted a different manner oi preaching. 

He publis!>cd a plan of a society tor making provision for widows, 
by annuities for lite, 1772; a fast sermon on Isaiah i. 6; two 
thanksgiving discourses, 1775 ; a sermon before the house of rep- 
resentatives, 1775; election sermon, 1775 ; a sermon before the 
general court on the anniversary of the declaration of independence, 
1777 ; doctrine of universal salvation examined and shown to be un- 
scriptural, 1783. His history of the rise, progress, and estaolishment 
of the independence of the United States of America in 4 vol. 8vo, 
1788, though not written with elegance, is allowed to have con- 
siderable merit as a minute and in general a faithful narrative of 
facts. While he was minister of Ipswich, before he came to this 
country, he published a judicious abridgment of president Ed- 
wards' treatise on the affections. — Pre/are to Ms history of the A- 
merican war ; Monthly repository .^ London., for November 1807. 

GORTON (Samuel), the first settler of Warwick, Rhode Isl- 
and, came to this country in 1636, and in a few years occasioiied 
much disturbance in the church of Boston by the \vild sentiments 
on religion, which he advanced. He soon went to Plymouth, in 
which colony he was subjected to corporal punishment for his er- 
rors, and whence he removed in June 1638 to Rhode Island. At 
Newport he received the same discipline on account of his con- 
tempt of the civil authority. He purchased some land near Paw- 
tuxet river, in the south part of Providence, in January 1641. Un- 
der the cover of this purchase he encroached upon the lands of 
Others, and complaints having been entered against him in the court 
of Massachusetts, he was required to submit himself to the juris- 
diction of that colony, and to answer for his conduct. This sum- 
mons he treated with contempt ; but being i pprehensive, that he 
was not in a place of safety, he crossed the river at the close of 
1642, and with eleven others purchased of Miuntoniraoh, the Nar- 
raganset sachem, a tract of land at Mishawomet, for which he paid 
one hundred and forty four fathoms of wampum. The deed was 
signed January 17, 1643. The town, of which he now laid the 
foundation, was afterwards called Warwick. In May following he 
and his party were seized by order of the general court of Massa- 
chusetts, and carried to Boston, where he was required to answer 
to the charge of being a blasphemous enemy of the gospel and its 
ordinances, and of all civil government. His ingenuity embarrass- 
ed the judges, for while he adhered to his own expressions, which 
plainly contradicted the opinions, which were embraced in Massa- 



GOR. 315 

citusetts, he yet, when examined by the ministers, professed a coin- 
cidence with them generally in their religious sentiments. The 
letter, which he wrote to the governor betore his seizure, was ad- 
dressed " to the great, honored, idol gentleman of Massachusetts," 
and was filled with reproaches of the magistrates and ministers ; 
but in his examination he declared, that he had reference only to 
the corrupt state of mankind in general. He had asserted, that 
Christ suffered actually betore he suffei'ed under Pontius Pilate ; but 
his meaning was, as he said to the court, that the death of Christ was 
actual to the faith of the fathers. Ttie ordinances, he thought, were 
abolished after the revelation was written, and thus he could admit, 
that they were the ordinances of Christ, because they were established 
for a snort time by him. But this equivocation did not avail him. 
His opinions were undoubtedly erroneous, and if errors are to be 
punished by the civil magistrate, his punishment was not unjust. 
All the magistrates but turee were of opinion, that he should be 
put to death, but the deputies were in favor of milder measures. 
Gorton, with a number of his companions, was sentenced to impris- 
onment and hard labor, and prohibited from passing the limits of the 
town, to which he was sent, and from propagating his heresies un- 
der pain of death. Alter a lew months, dissatisfaction of many people 
with his imprisonment and other causes induced the court to sub- 
stitute banishment in its place. In 1 644 he went to England with 
a deed from the Narraganset Indians transferring their territory to 
the king ; and he obtained an order from parliament, securing to 
him the peaceable possession of his lands. He arrived at Boston 
in 1648, and thence proceeded to Shawomet, which he called War- 
wick in honor of the earl of Warwick, who had given him much 
assistance in effecting his object. Here he officiated as a minister, 
and disseminated his doctrines, in consequence of which a large 
part of the descendants of his followers have neglected all religion 
to the present day. He died after the year 1676 at an advanced 
age. Without the advantages of education, he made himself ac- 
quainted with the Hebrew and Greek languages, that he might bet- 
ter understand the scriptures, though he had affected to despise hu- 
man learning. He violently opposed the quakers, as their princi- 
ples were hostile to his antimonian sentiments. He believed, that 
the sufferings of Christ were within his children, and that he was as 
much in this world at one time as at another ; that all, which is re- 
lated of him, is to be taken in a spiritual sense ; that he was in^ 
carnate in Adam, and was the image of God, wherein he was creat- 
ed. He was zealous for a pure church, and represented those as 
Pharisaical interpreters, who could establish churches, that admit- 
ted of falling from God in whole or in any part, as the true church- 
es of Christ. He published simplicity's defence against the seven 
headed policy, which was answered by Mr. Winslow; antidote 
against Pharisaical teachers; saltmarsh returned from the dead^ 



316 '■^-r Q05. 

1655; a glass for the people of New England.-— .■W?«?Aro^,'S09 
— 318,325; Mor{on,ll7 — 120; Hutc/iinsonj i. 72, \ 17 — 124,549; 
Backun' abr. 50 — .55 ; Collect, hist. soc. ix. 35 — 38 ; Holme a* annals y 
i. 298, 323 ; MaCa JV. E. i. 196 ; Cullender, 36, 37 ; Magtialia, vii. 
1 1 ; Josselyn, 259 ; H. Jdams' JV. E. 64 — 66. 

GOSNOLD (Bartholomew), an intrepid mariner of the west 
of Eni;;land, sailed from Falmouth for the coast of America March 
26, 1602. Instead of approaching this country by the way of the 
West Indies, he was the first Englishman, who directly crossed the 
ocean. He discovered land on the fourteentn ol May, and a cape 
on the fifteenth, near which he caugiit a great number of cod, from 
which circumstance he named the land cape Cod. The Indians, 
■which he met at difterent places, wore ornaments of copper, and 
used the pipe and tobacco. He passed Sandy Point, and in a few 
days came to an island, which he nanitd Martha's Vineyard, as there 
were many vines upon it. This is supposed to have been, not the 
island, which now bears that name, but the small island, which is 
called No man's Uuid. He resided three weeks on the most west- 
ern of the Elizabeth islands, on which he built a fort and store house. 
But finding, that he had not a supply of provisions, he gave up the 
design of making s settlement. The cellar of his store house was 
discovered by Dr. Belknap in 1797. Alter his return to England, 
he embarked in an expedition to Virginia, where he was a member 
of the council. But he died, soon after his arrival, August 22, 1 607. 
Belknaji\ Amer. biog. ii. 100 — 122 ; Holmes' amtals, i. 142 — 144 ; 
Purcha^, iv. 1690 ; v. 1646 — 1653 ; Seich, 30, 35, 45 ; Brit, eriipire, 
i. 353 ; Harrh* voy. i. 8 1 6 ; Univ. hift. xxxix. 269, 270. 

GRAYSON (William), a senator of tiie United States, was 
a native of Virginia, and was appointed a representative to congress 
from that state in 1784, and continued a number of years. In June 
1788 he was a member of the Virginia convention, which was call- 
ed for the purpose of considering the present constitution of the 
United States. In that assembly, rendered illustrious by men of 
the first talents, he was very conspicuous. His genius united with 
the eloquence of Henry in opposing the adoption oflhe constitution. 
While he acknowledged the evils of the old government, he was 
afraid that the proposed government would destroy the liberty of 
the states. His principal objections to it were, that it took from 
the states the sole right of direct taxation, which was the highest 
act of sovereignty ; that the limits between the national and state 
authorities were not sufficiently defined ; that they might clash, in 
■which case the general government would prevail ; that there 
■was no provision against raising such a navy, as was more than 
sufficient to protect our trade, and thus would excite the jeal- 
ousy of European powers and lead to war ; and that there were no 
adequate checks against the abuse of power, especially by the pres- 
ident, who was responsible only to his counsellors and partners in 



CRE. 317 

crime, the members of the senate. After the constitution was 
adopted, Mr. Grayson was appointed one of tiie senatois from Vir- 
ginia in 1789. His colleague was Richard Henry Lee. He died 
at Dumfries, whither he had come on his way to the congress, 
March 12, 1790, and his remains were deposited in the family vault 
at the reverend Mr. Spence Grayson's. His great abilities were 
united with unimpeached integrity. — Gazette of U S. i, 395 ; Be^ 
bates in Virginia convent, sec. edit. 198, 304, 309, 348, 438. 

Gl^EEN (Samuel), the first printer in North America, was an 
inhabitant ot Cambridge, Massachusetts, so early as 1639. In this 
year a press was set up in that town by a ^ir. Daye, at the charge 
oi the reverend Joseph Glover, who died on his passage to this 
country. Nothing of Daye's printing is to be tound. Thft press 
was very soon in the hands of Mr. Green. The first thing, which 
was printed, was the freeman's oath ; the next an almanac, made 
for New England by Mr. Pierce, a mariner ; the next was the ver- 
sion of the psalms made by Mr. Eliot and others, published in 1640. 
Mr. Green printed Eliot's Indian bible h) 1663 ; the body of the 
laws of Massachusetts, and of Connecticut in 1672 ; and the laws 
of Plymouth, and the second edition of the Indian bible in 1685. 
The time of his death has not been ascertained. His descendants in 
every succession to the present day have supported the^onor of the 
typographic art. Mr. Benjamin Green, who, it is believed, was his 
son, published the first number of the Boston newsletter, the first 
newspaper in America, April 17, 1704. Another of his descendants 
Mr. Timothy Green, went to New London in 1714 at the request 
of the government of Connecticut as a printer to the colony, and a 
number of his descendants were printers. — Collect, hist. soc. v. 209 ; 
vii. 19 ; Holmes^ annals, i. 312 ; IVinthrcp, 171 ; TrumbuWs Con- 
necticut., i. 478. 

GREENE (Nathaniel), a major general of the army of the 
United States, was born in Warwick, Rhode Island, about the year 
1740. His parents were quakers. His father was an anchor smith, 
who was conccnied in some valuable iron Avorks, and transacted 
much business. While he was a boy, he learned the Latin lan- 
guage chiefly by his own unassisted industry. Having procured a 
small library, his mind was much improved, though the perusal of 
military history occupied a considerable share of his attention. 
Such was the estimation, in which his character was held, that he 
was at an early pei'iod of his life chosen a member of the assembly 
of Rhode Island. After the battle of Lexhigton had enkindled at 
once the spirit of Americans throughout the whole continent, Mr. 
Greene, though educated in the peaceful principles of the friends, 
could not extinguish the martial ardor, which had been excited in 
his own breast. Receiving the command of three regiments with 
the title of brigadier general, he led them to Cambridge ; in con- 
sequence of which the quakers renounced all connexion with him 



318 GRE. 

as a member of their religious body. On the arrival of Washing- 
ton at Cambridge, he was the lirst, who expressed to the comniundcr 
in chief his satistuction iii his appointment, and he soon gained his 
entire conSdence. He was appointed by congress major general 
in August 1776. In the battles ot Trenton on the twenty sixth of 
December ioliowiiig, and ot Frinc^«.jn on tne third of January 1777 
he was much (.ibtingnished. He coumianded the left wing of the 
American army a the battle of Germantown on the fourth of Oc- 
tober. In March 1778 he was appointed quarter master general, 
waich office he accepted on condition, that his rank in the army 
should not be affected, aim that he should retain his command in the 
time of action. This right he exercised on the twenty eighth of 
June 4t tkte battle of Monmouth. His courage and skill were again 
displayed on the twenty ninth of August in Rhode Island. He re- 
signed in this year the oftice ot quarter master general, and was 
succeeded by colonel Pickering. Alter the disasters, which attend- 
ed the American arms in South Carolina, he was appointed to su- 
persede Gates, and he took the command in the southern depart- 
ment December 3, 1780. Having recruited the army, which had 
been exceedingly reduced by defeat and desertion, he sent out a 
detachment under the brave general Morgan, who gained the im- 
portant victory at the Cowpens January 17, 1781. Greene effect* 
ed a junction with him on the seventh of February, but on account 
of the supeiior numbers of Cornwallis he retreated with great skill 
to V'^irginia. Having received an accession to his forces, he return- 
ed to North Carolina, and hi the battle of Guilford on the fifteenth 
of March was defeated. The victory however was dearly bought 
by the British, for their loss was greater than that of the Americans, 
and no advantages were derived from it. In a few days Cornwallis 
began to march towards Wilmington, leaving.'inany of his wound- 
ed behind him, which had the appearance of a retreat, and Greene 
followed him for some time. But altering his plan, he resolved to 
recommence oflepsive operations in South Carolina. He accord- 
ingly marched directly to Camden, where on the twenty filth of 
April he was engaged with lord Rawdon. Victory inclined for 
some time to the Americans, but the retreat of two companies oc- 
casioned the defeat of the whole aimy. Greene retreated in good 
•rder, and took such measures as eflfectually prevented lord Raw- 
don from irr.proving his success, and obliged him in the beginning 
©f May to retire beyond the Santee. While he was in the neigh- 
borhood of Santee, Greene hung in one day eight soldiers, who had 
deserted from his army. For three months afterwards no instance 
of desertion took place. A number of forts and garrisons in South 
Carolina now fell into his hands. He commenced the siege of 
Ninety six on the twenty second of May, but he was obliged on the 
approach of lord Rawdon in June to raise the siege. The anny, 
nvhich had been highly encouraged by the late success, was now 



GRE. 319 

.^educed to the melancholy necessity of retreating to the extremity 
of the state. The American commander was cidvised to retire to 
Virginia ; but to suggestions of this kind, he replied, " I will recov- 
er South Carolina, or die in the attempt." Waiting till the British 
forces were divided, he faced about, and lord Rawdon was pursued 
in his turn, and was offered battle after he reached his encampment 
at Orangeburgh, but he declined it. On the eighth of September 
Greene covered himself with glory by the victory at the Eutuw 
springs, in which the British, who fought with the utmost bravery, 
lost eleven hundred men, and the Americans about half that num- 
ber. For his good conduct in this action congress presented him 
with a British standard and a golden medal. This engagement 
may be considered as closing the revolutionary war in South Caro- 
lina. During the remainder of his command he had to struggle 
•with the greatest difficulties from the want of supplies for his troops. 
Strong symptoms of mutiny appeared, but his firmness and decision 
sompletely quelled it. 

After the conclusion of the war he returned to Rhode Island., 
where the greatest dissensions prevailed, and his endeavors to re- 
store harmony were attended with success. In October 1785 he 
sailed to Georgia, where he had a considerable estate not far distant 
from Savannah. Here he passed his time as a [private citizen, occu- 
pied by domestic concerns. While walking without an umbrella, 
the intense rays of the sun overpowered him, and occasioned an in- 
flammation of the brain, of which he died June 19, 1786, in the forty 
seventh year of his age. In August following congress ordered a 
monument to be erected to his memory at the seat of the federal 
government. 

General Greene possessed a humane and benevolent disposition, 
and abhorring the cruelties and excesses, of which p..rtizans on 
both sides were guilty, he uniformly inculcated a spirit of modci a- 
tion. Yet he was resolutely sevce, when the preservation of dis- 
cipline rendered severity necessary. In the campaign of 1781 he 
displayed the prudence, the military skill, the unshaken firmness, 
and the daring courage, which are seldom combined, and which 
place him in the first rank of American officers. His judgment 
was correct, and his self possession never once forsook him. In 
one of his letters he says, that ne was seven mo'.ths in the field 
without taking off his clothes for a single iiight. It is thought, that 
he was the most endeared to the commander in chief of all his as- 
sociates in arms.' Washington often lamented his death with the 
keenest sorrow. — Hillhouae's oration on his death ; American muse- 
um, n. 337 — 343; iii. 23; vii. 39 — 41, 107 — 109,210,211 ; Mafsa. 
magazine, iv. 616, 671 j Gordon, ii. 65 ; iii. 473; iv. 168, 406 ; 
Marshall, iii. 219 ; iv 263, 335, 540, 556 ; v. 116 ; Jiatnsai/s S. 
Carolina, ii. 190 — 193, 204 — 225, 245 — 251 ; I'ardie ^ Holmes' an- 
nals, ii. 440 — .-149 ; Stcdman, ii. 376 ; IVarren^m. 56 — 59. 



320 GRI. 

GRIDLEY (Jkhkmy), attorney general of the province of Mas- 
sachusetts, ■was gradu;itecl at Harvard college in 5 725. He was ed- 
itor of the weekly rencarsal, a newspaper, which commenced in 
Boston September 27, 1781, and continued only for one year. He 
soon became preemi.ient as a lawyer, and was appointed king's at- 
torney. In tins capacity he in 1761 defended the writs of assist- 
ance, which the custom ^louse officers had applied for to the superior 
court, and Ijy which they wf. uld be authorizxd to enter at their dis- 
crelion suspected houses. He was opposed with great force of ar- 
gument by his former pupil, Mr. Otis. He died September 10, 
1767, being colonel of tne first regiment of militia, and grand mas- 
ter of the free m.isons. His strength of understanding, and his 
extensive knowledge, particularly his intimate acquaintance with 
classical literature gave him the first rank among men of intellect 
and le irnii)g, while his thorough knowledge of the canon and civil 
law placed him at tne head of his profession. He possessed at the 
same time a sensibilitv of lieart. wliich endeared him to those, who 
were connected with him in social and domestic liie. His fortitude 
in his last moments resulted irom the principles of religion.— 
Collect, hist. soc. iii. SOI ; v. 212 ; Boston fiost boy., Sefit. 14, 1767 ; 
4^Ttnot., ii. 88 — 90 ; Gordon^ i. 141 ; Memoirs of T. Hollia, 290, 
400. 

HAMH^TON (Andrew), an eminent lawyer of Philadelphia, 
died in the summer of 1741. He nad been speaker of the house 
^f assembly, l>ut he resigned this office in 1739 on account of his 
age and infirmities. He filled several stations with honor, integrity, 
and ability. In Zenger's trial at New York he acquired much rep- 
utation as a lawyer. His son, James Hamilton, was repeatedly 
governor of Pennsylvania between <^ i-e years 1748 and 1771.— 
ProuPs hist. Pennsylvania, ii. 216 — 219 ; Holmes' annals^ ii. 141. 

HAMILTON (Alexander), firsi secretary of the treasury of 
the United States, was a native of the island of St. Croix, and was 
born in 1757. His father was the younger son of an English fami- 
ly, and his mother was an American. At the of age sixteen he ac- 
companied his mother to New York, and entered a student of Co- 
lumbia college, in which he continued about three years. While a 
member of this institution the first buddings of his intellect gave 
presages of his future eminence. The contest with Great Britain 
called forth the first talents on each side, and his juvenile pen as- 
.sertcd the claims of the colonies against very respectable writers. 
His p-ipers exhibited such evidence of intellect and wisdom, that 
they were ascribed to Mr. Jiy. and wlit-n the truth was discovered, 
America saw with astonishment a h.d of seventeen in the list of her 
able advocates. At the age of eighteen he entered the American 
army as an officer of artillery. The fi'-st sound of war awakened 
his martiil soirit, and as a soldier he soon fonciliatcl the regard 
of his brethren in arms. It was net louji beioie he attracted the 



HAM. 321 

notice of Washington, who in 1 777" selected him as fin aid with the 
rank of lieutenant colonel. His sound understanding, comprehen- 
sive views, application, and promptitude soon gained him the entire 
confidence of his patron. In such a school, it was impossible but 
that his genius should be nourished. By intercourse with Wash- 
ington, by surveying his plans, observing his consummate prudence, 
and by a minute inspection of the springs of national operations he 
became fitted for command. Throughout the campaign, which 
terminated in the capture of lord Cornwallis, colonel Hamilton 
commanded a battalion of light infantry. At the siege of York 
in 178 1, Avhen the second parallel was opened, two redoubts, which 
flanked it and were advanced three hundred yards in front of the 
British works, very much annoyed the men in the trenches. It 
was resolved to possess them, and to prevent jealousies the attack 
of the one was committed to the Americans and of the other to 
the French. The detachment of the Americans was commanded 
by the marquis de la Fayette, and colonel Hamilton, at his own 
earnest request, led the advanced corps, consisting of two battalions. 
Towards the close of the day on the fourteenth of October the 
troops rushed to the charge without firing a single gun. The 
works were assaulted with irresistible impetuosity, and carried with 
but little loss. Eight of the enemy fell in the action ; but notwith- 
standing the irritation lately produced by the infamous slaughter in 
fort Griswold, not a man was killed, who ceased to resist. 

Soon after the capture of Cornwallis, Hamilton sheathed his 
sword, and being encumbered with a family and destitute of funds, 
at the age of twenty five applied to the study of the law^ In this 
profession he soon rose to distinction. But his private pursuits 
could not detach him from regard to the public welfare. The vio- 
lence, which was meditated agdnst the property and persons of all, 
who remained in the city during the war, called forth his generous 
exertions, and by the aid of governor Clinton the faithless and re- 
vengeful scheme, was defeated. In a few years a more important 
affair demanded his talents. After witnessing the debility of the 
confederation he was fully impressed with the necessity of an effi- 
cient general government, and he was appointed in 1787 a member 
of the federal convention for New York. He assisted in fonning 
the constitution of our country. It did not indeed completely 
meet his wishes. He was afraid, that it did not contain sufficient 
means of strength for its own preservation, and that in consequence 
Ave should share the fate of many other republics and pass through 
anarchy to despotism. He was in favor of a more permanent ex- 
ecutive and senate. He wished for a strong government, which 
would not be shaken by the conflict of different interests through 
an extensive territory, and which should be adequate to all the 
forms of national exigency. He was apprehensive, that the in- 
creased wealth and population of the states would lead to encroach- 



322 HAM. 

:ineuts on the union, and he anticipated the day, when the general 
government, unable to support itself, would fall. These were his 
views and feelings, and he freely expressed them. But the patri- 
otism of Hamilton was not of that kind, which yields every thing, 
because it cannot accomplish all) that it desires. 'Believing the con- 
stitution to be incomparably superior to the old confederation, he 
exerted all his talents in its support, though it did not rise to his 
conception of a perfect system. By his pen in the papers signed 
Publius, and by his voice in the convention of New York he con- 
tributed much to its adoption. When the government was organ- 
ized in 1789, Washington placed him at the head of the treasury. 
In the new demands, which were now made upon his talents, the 
resources of his mind did not fail him. In his reports he proposed 
plans for funding the debt of the union and for assuming the debts 
of the respective .states, for establishing a bank and mint, and foi* 
procuring a revenue. He wished to redeem the reputation of his 
counti-y by satisfying her creditors, and to combine with the govern- 
ment such a monied interest, as might facilitate its operations. 
But while he opened sources of wealth to thousands by establishing 
public credit, and thus restoring the public paper to its original 
value, he did not enrich himself. He did not take advantage of his 
situation, nor improve the opportunity he enjoyed for acquiring a 
fortune. Though accused of amassing wealth, he did not vest a 
dollar in the public funds. He was exquisitely delicate in regard to 
his official character, being determined if possible to prevent the 
impeachment of his motives, and preserve his integrity and good 
name unimpaired. 

In the early stage of the administration a disagreement existed 
between Mr. Hamilton and the secretary of state, Mr. Jefferson, 
which increased till it issued in such open hostility, and introduced 
such confusion in the cabinet, that Washington found it necessary to 
address a letter to each, recommending forbearance and moderation. 
Mr. Hamilton was apprehensive of danger from the encroachment 
of the states and wished to add new strength to the general govern- 
ment ; while oMr. Jefferson entertained little jealousy of the state 
sovereignties, and was rather desirous of checking and limiting the 
exercise of the national authoiities, particularly the power of the 
executive. Other points of difference existed, and a reconciliation 
could not be effected. In the beginning of 1793, after intelligence 
of the rupture between France and Gi-eat Britain had been received, 
Hamilton, as. one of the cabinet of the president, supported the 
opinion, that the ti-eaty with France was no longer binding, and that 
a nation might absolve itself from the obligations of real treaties, 
when such a change takes place in the internal situation of the other 
contracting party, as renders the continuance of the connexion dis- 
advantageous or dangerous. He advised therefore, that the ex- 
pected French minister should not be received in an unqualified 



HAM. 323 

manner. The secretary of state oo the other hand was of opinion 
that the revolution in France had produced no change in the rela- 
tions between the two countries, and could not weaken the oblir^- 
tion of ti'eaties ; and this opinion was embraced by Washington. 
The advice of Hamilton was followed in regard to the insurrection 
in Pennsylvania in 1794, and such a detachment was sent out under 
his own command, that it was suppressed without effusion of blood. 
He remained but a short time afterwards in office. As his property 
had been wasted in the public service, the care of a rising family 
made it his duty to retire, that by renewed exertions in his profes- 
sion he might provide for their support. He accordingly resigned 
his office on the last of January 1795, and was succeeded by Mr. 
Wolcott. Not long after this period, as he was accused of pecula- 
tion, he was induced to repel the charge, and in doing this he 
thought it necessary to disclose a circumstance, which it would 
have been more honorable to his character to have left in oblivion. 
This was an adulterous connexion with a Mrs. Reynolds, while he 
was secretary of the treasury. When a provisional army was raised 
in 1798 in consequence of the injuries and demands of France, 
Washington suspended his acceptance of the command of it on 
the condition, that Hamilton should be his associate and the second 
in command. This arrangement was accordingly made. After 
the adjustment of our dispute with the French republic, and the 
discharge of the army, he returned again to his profession in the 
city of New York. In this place he passed the remainder of his days. 
In June 1 804 colonel Burr, vice president of the United States, 
addressed a letter to genei'al Hamilton, requiring his acknowl- 
edgment or denial of the use of any expression derogatory to 
the honor of the former. This demand was deemed inadmissible, 
and a duel was the consequence. After the close of the circuit 
court, the parties met at Hoboken-on the morning of Wednesday, 
July the eleventh, and Hamilton fell on the same spot, where his 
son a few years before had fallen, in .obedience to the same princi- 
ple of honor, and in the same violation of the laws of God and of 
man. He was carried into the city, and being desirous of receiving 
the sacrament of the Lord's supper, he immecKately sent for the 
reverend Dr. Mason. As the principles of his church prohibited 
him from administering the ordinance in private, this minister of 
the gospel informed general Hamilton, that t!>e sacrament was an 
exhibition nnd pledge of the mercies, which the Son of God has 
purchased, and that the absence of the sign did not exclude from 
the mercies signified, which were accessible to him by faith in their 
gracious Author, He replied, " I am awure of that. It is only as a 
sign that I wanted it." In the conversation, v/hich ensued, he disa- 
vowed all intention of taking the life of colonel Burr, and declared 
his abhorrence of the whole transaction. When the sin, of which Jre 
'X9d been guilty, was intimated to him, he assented with stron^'j 



324 HAM. 

emotion ; and when the infinite merit of the Redeemer, as the pro- 
pitiation for sin, the sole ground of our acceptance with God, was 
suggested, he siiid with emphasis, " I have a tender reUance on the 
mercy of the Ahnighty through the merits of the Lord Jesus 
Christ." The reverend bishop Moore was afterwards sent for, and 
xifter making suitable inquiries of the penitence and faith of gene- 
ral Hamilton, and receiving his assurance, that he would nevci' 
again, if restored to health, be engaged in a similar transaction, but 
would employ all his influence in society to discountenance the bar- 
barous custom, administered to him the communion. After this his 
mind was composed. He expired about two o'clock on Thursday 
July 12, 1804, aged about forty seven years. 

General Hamilton possessed very \incommon powers of mind. 
To whatever subject he directed his attention, he was able to grasp 
it, and in whatever he engaged, in that he excelled. So stupend- 
ous were his talents and so patient was his industry, that no investiga- 
tion presented (Ufiiculties, which he could not conquer. In the class 
of men of intellect he held the first rank. His eloquence was of the 
most interesting kind, and when new exertions were required, he 
rose in new strength, and touching at his pleasure every string of 
pity or terror, of indignation or grief, he bent the passions of oth- 
ers to his purpose. At the bar he gained the first eminence. 

With regard to his political designs the most contradictory opin- 
ions were entertained. While one party believed his object to be 
the preservation of the present constitution, the other party imput- 
ed to him the intention of subverting it ; his friends regarded him 
as an impartial statesman, while his enemies perceived in his con- 
duct only hostility to France and attachment to her rival. What- 
ever may be the decision with regard to the correctness of his prin- 
ciples, his preference of his country's interest to his own cannot be 
questioned by those, Avho are acquainted Avith his character. He 
took no measures to secure a transient popidarity, but, like every 
true friend of his country, was willing to rest his reputation upon 
the integrity of his conduct. So far was he from flattering the 
people, that he more than once dared to throw himself into the 
torrent, that he might present some obstruction to its course. 
*He was an honest politician ; and his frankness has been com- 
mended even by those, who considered his political principles 
as hostile to the American confederated republic. His views of 
the necessity of a firm general government rendered him a de- 
cided friend of the union of the American stales. His feelings 
and language were indignant towards every thing, which pointed at 
its dissolution. His hostility to every influence, which leaned to- 
wards the project, was stern and steady, and in every shape It en- 
countered Ins reprobation. No man, of those, who were not friend- 
ly to the late administration, possessed so wide and command- 
ing an influence ; and he seems not to have been ignorant of the 



HAM. 525 

elevated height, on which he stood. In assigning the reasons for 
accepting the challenge of colonel Burr, while he seems to intimate 
his apprehensions, that the debility of the general government 
would be followed by convulsions, he also alludes to the demand, 
which, in such an event, might be made upon his military talents. 
His words are, '' the ability to be in future useful, whether in re- 
sisting mischief or effecting good, in those crises of our public af- 
fairs, which seem likely to happen, would probably be inseparable 
from a conformity with public prejudice in this particular." 

With all his preeminence of talents, and amiable as he was in 
private life, general Hamilton is yet a melancholy proof of the influ- 
ence, which intercourse with a depraved world has in perverting 
the judgment. In principle he was opposed to duelling, his con- 
science was not hardened, and he was not indifierent to the happiness 
of his wife and children ; but no consideration was strong enough 
to prevent him from exposing his life in single combat. His own 
views of visefuiness were followed in contrariety to the injunctions 
of his Maker and Judge. He had been for some time convinced 
of the truth of Christianity, and it was his intention, if his life had 
been spared, to have written a work upon its evidences. 

General Hamilton possessed many friends, and he Avas endeared 
to them, for he was gentle, tender, and benevolent. While he was 
great in the eyes of the world, familiarity with him only increased 
the regard, in which he was held. In his person he was small, and 
short in stature. He married a daughter of general Schuyler, and 
left an afflicted widow and a number of children to mourn his loss. 
He published the letters of Phocion, which were in favor of the 
loyalists after the peace. The federalist, a series of essays, which 
appearedin the public papers in the interval between the publication 
and the adoption of the constitution of the United States, or soon af- 
ter, and which was designed to elucidate and support its principles, 
was written by him in conjunction with Mr. Jay and Mr. Madison . He 
wrote all the numbers, excepting numbers 2, 3, 4, 5, and 54, which 
were written by Mr. Jay ; numbers 10, 14, and 37 to 48 inclusive 
by Mr. Madison; and numbers 18, 19, and 20, which he and Mr. 
Madison wrote conjointly. This work has been published in two 
volumes, and is held in the highest estimation. His reports while 
secretary of the treasury are very long, and display great powers of 
mind. Some of them are preserved in the American museum. 
In the report upon manufactures he controverts the principles of 
Adam Smith. In the papers signed Pacificus, written in 1793, 
while he justified the proclamation of neutrality, he also supported 
his opinion, that we were absolved from the obligation of our treat- 
ies Avith France, and that justice was on the side of the coalition 
of the European powers for the i-eestablishment of the French 
monarchy. He published also observations on certain docu- 
ments Sec. being a defence of himself against the charge of pecula- 



326 HAN. 

tibn, 1797 ; and a letter concerning the public conduct and character 
of his excellency John Adams, president of the United States, 
1800. In this letter he endeavors to show, that the venerable pa- 
triot, who was more disposed than himself to maintain peace with 
France, was unworthy of being replaced in the high station, which 
he occupied.— iliasora'* oration on his death; JVott's discourse; 
Alorrin' fun. oration ; Otis' eulogy ; ylines' sketch ; Marshall, t. 
131, 212, 234, 350 — 360,405, 607 — 611; Brissot^nouv. voy.'i. 
243, 244 ; Public fiafiers /or July mid August 1804; American rmi' 
setim, xi. 1 — 51 .62 — 78 ; Hardie ; Public characters/or 1806, 363; 
Monthly anthology.^ iv. 601. 

HANCOCK (John), minister of Lexingtdn, Massachusetts, was 
born in 1670, and was graduated at Harvard college in 1689. He 
was ordained November 2, 1698. After a ministry of more than 
half a century, he died very suddenly December 6, 1752, in the 
eighty second year of his age. About a fortnight before his deatii 
he officiated at the ordination of the reverend Mr. Gushing of Wal- 
tham. Two of his sons were ministers, one of whom, Ebenezer 
Hancock, was settled as his colleague January 2, 1733, and died 
January 28, 1740. Mr, Hancock possessed a facetious temper, and 
in general his wit was used with discretion. Being a friend to peace 
he exerted himself, and with success, to preserve harmony in his 
parish. By his brethren in the ministry he was highly respected 
and beloved, and as he was for many years senior minister in the 
covmty, his services were frequentiy requested in ecclesiastical 
councils. [ He had given the charge to twenty one ministers. He 
retained uncommon vigor to the last. He published the election 
«ermon, 1722 ; a sermon preached in Boston, November 21, 1724 ; 
a sermon at the ordination of his son, 1726 ; a sermon at the instal- 
lation of the reverend Timothy Harrington, 1748. — Afifileton'afun' 
<;ral sermon. 

HANCOCK (John), minister of Braintree, Massachusetts, was 
the son of the preceding, and was graduated at Harvard college in 
i7 19. He was ordained as successor of the reverend Joseph Marsh 
November 2, 1726. His death took place May 7, 1744, in the for- 
ty second year of his age. Possessing good talents, lie applied 
with diligence to the studies of the ministeilal office. During the 
revival of religion, which was so remarkable in difTcrciit parts of 
America a short time before; his death, it was his wish to guard his 
people against what he considered as enthusiasm on the one hand, 
and against infidelity and indifference to religion on tlie other. Af- 
ter a lite of uprightness and sobriety, he expressed in his last mo- 
ments the satisfaction which he felt in the testimony of a good con- 
science, and looked for the mercy of the Lord Jesus to eternal life. 
He published a sermon on the death of the honorable Edmund 
■Quincy, 1738 ; a century sermon preached September 16, 1739 ; 
on the good work of grace, 1743 ; an expostulatory and pacific let- 
ter in reply to Mr. Gee, 1743. — Guy's sermon o?i his death. 



HAN. 327 

HANCOCK (Thomas), a benefactor of Harvard college, Avas 
the son of the reverend Mr. Hancock of Lexington, and died in 
Boston August i, 1764. His portrait at full length is in the philos- 
ophy chamber of the college. His nephew, the late governor 
Hancock, inherited most of his property ; but he bequeathed one 
thousand pounds sterling fur founding a professorship of the He- 
brew and other oriental languages in Harvard college ; one thou- 
sand pounds lawful money to the society for propagating the gospel 
among the Indians in North America ; and six hundred pounds to 
the town of Boston towards erecting a hospital for the reception of 
such persons, as ai^e deprived of tlieir reason. Stephen Sewall, 
the first Hancock professor of Hebrew in the university of Cam- 
bridge, was inducted into his ofiice in \7& 5. —-Annual register 
for 1764, 116; Holmea' annals.^ ii. 277. 

HANCOCK (John, ll. d.), governor of Massachusetts, was 
the son of the reverend Mr. Hancock of Braintree, and was born 
about the year 1737. He was graduated at Harvard college in 1754. 
On the death of his uncle, Thomas Hancock, esquire, he received 
a very considerable fortune, and soon became an eminent merchant. 
In 1766 he was chosen a member of the house of representatives 
for Boston with James Otis, Thomas Cushing, and Samuel Adams. 
The seizure of his sloop Liberty in 1768 for evading the laws of 
trade occasioned a riot, and several of the commissioners of the 
customs narrowly escaped with their lives. As the controversy 
with Great Britain assumed a more serious shape, and affairs were 
hastening to a crisis, Mr. Hancock evmced his attachment to the 
rights of his country. He was president of the provincial congress 
in 1774. On the twelfth of June of the following year general 
Gage issued his proclamation, offering pardon to all the rebels, ex- 
cepting Samuel Adams and John Hancock, " whose offences," it is 
declared, " are of too flagitious a nature to admit of any other con- 
sideration, than that of condign punishment." Mr. Hancock was 
at this time a member of the continental congress, of which he 
was chosen president on the twenty fourth of May in the place of 
Peyton Randolph, who was under the necessity of returning home. 
In this office, as the head of the illustrious congress of 1 776, he 
signed the declaration of independence. In consequence of the ill 
state of his health he took his leave of congress in October i777, 
and received their thanks for his unremitted attention and steady 
impartiality in discharging the duties of his ofTice. Henry Laurens 
was his successor. 

On the adoption of the present constitution of Massachusetts, he 
was chosen the first governor in October 1780, and was annually re- 
elected and continued in that office till February 1785, when he 
resigned. In 1787 he was again chosen in the place of Mr. Bow- 
do in and remained in the chair till his death, October 8, 1793, aged 
fifty six years. His administration was very popular. It was ap- 



328 IIAR. 

prehcnded by some, that on his accession the dignity of govern- 
ment would not be sufficiently maintained ; but his language on 
assuming the chair was manly and decisive, and by his moderation 
and lenity the civil convulsion was completely quieted without the 
shedding of blood by the hand of the civil magistrate. Fourteen 
persons, who received sentence of death, were pardoned. In his 
public speeches to the legislature he acquitted himself with a de- 
gree of popular eloquence, which is seldom equalled. In one of 
liis last acts as governor he supported in a dignified manner the 
sovereignty of the individual states. By a process commenced 
against Massachusetts in favor of William Vassal, esquire, he was 
summoned by a writ to answer to the prosecution in the court of 
the United States. But he declined the smallest concession, which 
might lessen the independence of the state, whose interests 
were entrusted to his care, and he supported his opinion with firm- 
ness and dignity. Litigations of this nature were soon afterwards 
precluded by an amendment of the constitution of the United 
States. 

Mr. Hincockis represented as not favored with extraordinary 
powers of mind, and as not honoring the sciences very much by his 
personal attentions. But he was easy in his address, polished in 
manners, afl'able, and liberal ; and as president of congress he 
exhibited a dignity, impartiality, quickness of conception, and 
constant attention to business, which secured him respect. As the 
chairman of a deliberative body, few could preside with such repu- 
tation. In the early periods of his public career, it has been said, 
that he was somewhat inconstant in his attachment to the cause of 
his countr}'. Though this representation should be true ; yet from 
tlie commencement of the war the part, which he took, was decided 
and uniform, and his patriotic exertions arc worthy of honorable 
remembrance. By the suavity of his manners and his insinuating 
address, he secured an almost unequalled popularity. He could 
speak with case and propriety on every subject. Being considered as 
a republican in principle and a firm supporter of the cause of free- 
dom, whenever he consented to be a candidate for governor, he was 
chosen to that office by an imdisputed majority. In private life he 
Avas charitalile and generous. With a large fortune he had also a 
disposition to employ it for useful and benevolent purposes. The 
poor shared liberally in his bounty. He was also a generous bene- 
f&ttor of Harvard college. He published an oration, which he de- 
livered on the Boston massacre, 1774 — Thacher's .sermon on /us 
death ; Gordon^ i. 208, 231; ii. 31 ; iii. 18 — 2 1, 498 ; Warren^ \. 
-212 — 215, 430 ; Minot's hist, insurrect. 179, 184 ; Massa. mercury, 
October 1 1, 1793 ; Holmes' annals, ii. 315 ; Drissot ncuv. voy. i. 
152. 

HARDENBERGH (Jacobus R. d. d.), first president of 
Queen's college in New Jersey, was a native of this country. He 



HAR. 329 

was not favored with the same advantages in the early part of his 
education, which some of iiis contemporaries enjoyed ; yet with a 
powerful mind, and habits of perseverm;^ application he made such 
progress in knowledge, that he was justly esteemed a great divine. 
He was ordained by that party in the Dutch churches, which was 
denominated the Coetus, and was its most distinguished and able 
supporter. He cheerfully exerted himself with the reverend Dr. 
Livingston in 17T1, when he was minister of Raritan, to heal the 
division of the Dutch churches, and a union was completed in the 
following year. After the charter of Queen's college at New 
Brunswick was obtained in \770 he was the first president, and di- 
ed in that office in November 1790. This'lnstitution was designed 
for educating young men for the ministry. Dr. Hardenbergh's 
piety was ardent ; his labors indefatigable ; and his ministry great- 
ly blessed. — -Christianas magazine.^ ii. 13, 270. 

HART (Oliver), minister of Charleston, South Carolina, was 
born at Warminster, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, July 5, 1 723. At 
the age of eighteen he was impressed with the importance of re- 
ligion and was baptized. He was ordained at Southampton Octo- 
ber 18, 1749, and in the same year went to Charleston, where he 
succeeded the reverend Mr. Chanler, and was minister of the bap- 
tist church in that city for thirty years. In such estimation was 
his character for patriotism and talents held by the council of safety 
of Carolina, that at the beginning of the revolution he was appointed 
by them, with the honorable William Henry Drayton and the rev- 
erend William Tennent, to visit the frontiers in order to reconcile 
some of the disaffected inhabitants to the change, which had taken 
place in public affairs. In February 1780 the warm interest, which 
he took in promoting the American revolution, induced him to 
leave Charleston, lest he should full into the hands of the British, 
who were about to besiege the city. In December following he 
was settled at Hopewell in New Jersey, where he remained till his 
death December 31, 1795, in the seventy third year of his age. 

Mr. Hart possessed strong powers of mind. His imagination 
was lively and his judgment sound. Though not favored with a 
liberal education, by diligent study and habitual reflection he became 
very respectable for his knowledge of Christian truth. He was a 
uniform advocate of the doctrines of free and sovereign grace. As 
a preacher his manner was pleasing and his delivery animated. As 
a citizen he was a firm and decided patriot. He possessed a libj^al 
spirit and exhibited the beneficence, which he recommended. 'In 
his last moments he enjoyed the consolations of the gospel, resting 
his hopes upon the righteousness of Christ. He published several 
sermons and tracts, namely, dancing exploded ; a discourse on the 
death of the reverend William Tennent ; the Christian temple ; 
a circular letter on Christ's mediatorial character; American's 
remembrancer ; a gospel church portrayed ; and a thanksgiving 

43 



330 HAR 

sermon, 1789. lie had a turn for poetry, and wrote 'mucfif tnougl 
none oi iiis proUaotiuns '.vcrc published. A variety of las papers 
on diderent subjccis, which ho highly valued, and many of his best 
books were destroyed by tiie British army, when they overrun the 
southern states.— '/^o^e?-'*- and Furman*8 discourses on ids death ; 
Hardie's biog. diet. 

HART (Levi, d. d.), minister of Preston, Connecticut, was the 
son of Tnomas Hart, esquiit-, of Southinjijton, and was graduated at 
Yale college in 1760. While u member of college he made a pub- 
lic profession of that religion, wnich regulated his whole life. 
Having pursued tlie study of divinity for some time with the rev- 
erend Dr. Bellamy, he on the fourth of November 1762 was settled 
as the minister of the second ciiurch in Preston. Here he contin- 
ued to perform the various duties oi the sacred office until a short 
time before his death, which took place October 27, 1808, in the 
seventieth year of his age. Receiving from the gift of God a 
sound and vigorous mind, it was much improved by his scientiiic 
and literary ucquisiiions. Many young men were trained up by 
him for the ministry. As he united a keen discernment of charac- 
ter to a social and communicative turn of mind, and was always 
governed by the desire of promoting the interests of religion, he 
AVas very useful hi his private intercourse with his people, a» 
well as in his public labors. He sought out the abodes of affliction, 
of poverty, and of distress ; and while he soothed the poor by his 
conversation, he was enabled also by an exact economy to contribute 
Homcthing from a small salary for the relief of their wants. His 
disposition was placid ; his manners amiable and unassuming ; and 
in the various reiations of life he was fvdthful and affectioitate. He 
engaged zealously in the support of missionary institutions, and the 
progress of the gospel was the theme of his correspondence with a 
number of respectable friends of religion in Europe. He publish- 
ed a sermon pre.iclicd to the corporation of freemen in Farmington 
September 20, I77't; election sermon, 1786; a sermon on the 
death of the revorend Dr. Hopkins, 1 80 3. -—Pano/ilist and miss^ 
mag. united., i. 287, ^88. 

HARVARD (John), the founder of Harvard college, died in 
Charlestown, Mass ichusetts, in 1638, soon after his arrival in this' 
country. He had been a minister :n England and he preached a 
short time in Charlestown. He left a legacy of seven hundred and 
seventy nine pounds, seventeen shillings, and two pence to the 
school at Newtown, or Cambridge. The next year the general 
court constituted it a college. The first president was the reverend 
Mr. Dunstcr. — Magnalia, iv. 126 ; Collect, hist. soc. i. 242 ; Hutth' 
bison., i. 90 ; J\''eaCs A", ^i. i. 199 ; Holmes* annals, i. 303. 

HAVEN (Samuel, d.d.), minister of Portsmouth, New Hamp- 
sliire, was born in Framine';ham, Massachusetts, August 15, 1727, 
■uvX was graduated at Harvard college in 171-9. During the revival 



HAV. 331 

v^f religion, which took place about the time of his residence at col- 
lege, his mind was imj-nessecl by the truths of God, and he was a 
great admirer of the prertchers, whose labors appeared to be blessed 
by the Holy Spirit. Tnougn he censured the irregularities, which 
existed, yet he ever retained the persuasion, that in this period 
there was a remarkable exhibition of divine power and grace. Soon 
after he began to preach, he was invited to settle at Brookiine ; but 
the untininuty of the invitation, which he at the same time received 
from the south church in Portsmouth, determined him to settle in a 
place more remote from the university, to which he was much at- 
tached. He Wc;s ordained May 6, 1752, and continued here till his 
death, Avhich took place March 3, 1806, in the seventy ninth year of 
lus age, and the fifty fourth of his ministry. His first wife was the 
daughter of the reverend Dr. Appleton of Cambridge. It is re- 
markable that his second wife, who attended him in his sickness, and 
•closed his eyes, died herself in a few hours afterwanis. They 
•were both buried at the same time, and twelve children followed 
them to the grave. 

Dr. Haven possessed respectable talents, and was acquainted 
•with various depaitments of science. Having paid considerable 
attention to the study of physic, his usefulness was thus increased 
among his people. His mind was rather of the sprightly cast, than 
inclined to abstruse researches and deep investigation." In his the- 
olpgical sentiments he was moderately Calvinistic, though in the 
latter part of his life he possessed a spirit of Catholicism and chaiity 
so excessive, as led him privately to speculate with Dr. Chattncy on 
the sentiment of universal restitution. But he never proclaimed 
this sentiment from the pulpit, and he declared, that he never 
meant to risk his salvation on that ground. His common sermons 
were plain, serious, and practical. His delivery was manly and in- 
teresting. He had a happy talent for all extemporary services. 
He excelled in the tender and sympathetic. In scenes of affliction 
and sorrow he was a son of consolation. On funeral occasions, for 
variety, copiousness, tenderness, and pertinency of address he was 
rarely equalled, and he was often instrumental in awakening the 
careless and convincing the unconvinced. 

He published the following sermons ; a sermon at the request of 
the congregational ministers of New Hampshire, 1760 ; on the 
death of George II and the accession of George III, 1761 ; on the 
conclusion of the war and the declaration of peace, 1763 ; at the or- 
dination of Jeremy Belknap at Dover, 1767; on the death of the 
honorable Henry Sherburne, 1767; a sermon preached at Cambridge 
and published at the request of the students, 1768 ; one preached 
at Medfield, 1771 ; election sermon in New Hampshire, 1786 ; on 
the death of the reverend Benjamin Stevens, 1791; on the rea- 
sonableness and importance of practical religion, 1794; the Dud- 
leian lecture at Cambridge, 1798 ; a sermon soon after the ordina- 



332 HAV. 



i 



tion of the reverend T. Alden jun. as his colleague, 1800. — 
Jiuckminstcr^s acrinon on hin death ; Alden' a account of relig, societien 
in Portsmouth. 

HAVEN (Jason), minister of Dedham, Massachusetts, was born 
sit Framinj^liam March 13, 1733, and was graduated at Harvard col- 
lege in 1754. He was ordained pastor ot the iirst church in Ded- 
ham February 5, 1756. In 1779 he was chosen a member of the 
convention, which formed the constitution of the state, in which he 
lived. In bis old age his impaired health rendering a colleague 
necessary, the reverend Joshua Bates was ordained March 16, 1803. 
Mr. Haven died May 17, 1803, in the seventy first year of his age, 
ami the forty eighth of his ministry. He was furnished with tal- 
ents for the acceptable discharge of the various duties of the sacred 
office. His discourses were very evangelical ; he was eminent in 
prayer ; and his ap|>eai"ance and manners uniformly dignified his 
station. Besides several smaller works, he published the following 
sermons; on the anniversary thanksgiving November 21, 1758; 
at the artillery election, 1761; at a private meeting in Framing- 
ham, 1761 ; at the ordination of the reverend Fdwurd Brooks, July 
4, 1764; election sermon, 1769 ; on the de^tb of Mrs. Hannak 
Richards, 1770 ; at the ordination of the reverend Ephr.iim Ward, 
October 23, 1771; at the ordination of the reverend Moses Eve- 
rett, September 28, 1774 ; at the funeral of the reverend Samuel 
Dunbar, 1783; at the ordinauon of the revei'end Stephen Palmer, 
November 7, 1792 ; a sermon to bis own people forty years 
after his ordination, February 7, 1796. — .Pre/itisa' sermon on his 
death. 

HAWLEY (Joseph), distinguished as a statesman and patriot, 
was born in Northampton, Massachusetts, and was graduated at 
Yale college in 1742. Soon after finishing his collegial education 
he engaged in the study and the practice of the law in his native 
town, In this science he became a great proficient and was one of 
the most distinguished counsellors in the province. Among his 
other studies he attained to such an eminence of knowledge in po- 
litical history and the principles of free government, that during 
the disputes between Great Britain and the colonies he was regard- 
ed as one of the ablest advocates of American liberty. His integri- 
ty both in public and in private life was inflexible, and was not even 
questioned by his political opponents. He was repeatedly elected 
a member of the council, but refused in every instance to accept 
the office, as he preferred a seat in the house of representatives, 
where his character for dismterested patriotism and his bold and 
manly eloquence gave him an ascendency, which has seldom been 
equalled. He was first elected a member of the legislature in 
1764. In the latter part of 1776 major Hawley was alHicted with 
hypochondriacal disorders, to wi.ich he had been frequently subject 
in former periods of his life ; and after this he declined public 



HAW. 33a 

business. He died March 10, 1788, aged sixty four years. A 
letter, which he wrote in 1760, preserved in the life of Edwards, 
does him the highest honor, for it proves him not incapable of hum- 
bling himself for his failings. He had been active in effecting the 
removal of Mr. Edwards from Noi'thampton, and he deplores the 
part, which he took in that affair. 

HAWLEY (Gideon), many years a missionary to the Indians, 
was a native of Connecticut and was graduated at Yale college in 
1749. He commenced his missionary labors in February 1752 
at Stockbridge, in the western part of Massachusetts. Thence in 
September he made an excursion to Schoharie in the country of 
the Mohawk Indians, and after his return to Stockbridge he opened 
his school again at the beginning of winter under the patronage of 
the reverend Mr. Edwards. Here he was the instructer of the 
children of a number of Mohawk, Oneida, and Tuscarora families, 
and preached to them on the sabbath. It being determined by the 
commissioners for Indian affairs in Boston to establish a mission ia 
the country of the Iroquois, or Indians of the six nations, Mr, Haw- 
ley engaged in the plan. In May 1753 he commenced his journey 
towards the wilderness, accompanied by the honorable Timothy 
Woodbridge, a gentleman of abilities, and of great influence among 
the Indians. Having visited sir William Johnson at his seat upon 
the Mohawk river and secured his patronage, they proceeded to- 
Avards the head of the Susquehannah, adoring every night and 
morning that kind providence, which attended and preserved them 
in the recesses of the forest. On the fourth of June they reached 
the place of their destination, Onohoghgwage, or as it is sometimes 
called Oughquauga,upon.the Susquehannah river. Here an inter- 
view was held with the Indians, who gave them a good reception. 
On the thirty first of July 1754 Mr. Hawley was ordained at Boston, 
that his usefulness might be increased by being authorized to ad- 
minister the ordinances of the gospel. He soon returned to Ono- 
hoghgwage, and was there till May 1756, when the French war 
obliged him to withdraw from that country. He went to Boston in 
June, and entering as chaplain in the regiment of colonel Gridley, 
he soon joined the army above Albany, which was destined against 
Crown Point. After the campaign he made an attempt to return 
to the place of his mission, but was deterred by the dangers of the 
enterprise. A church was established here by the reverend Dr. 
Forbes in 1762. In December Mr. Hawley went to Stockbridge, 
where he spent the winter. In 1757 the commissioners of the so- 
ciety for propagating the gospel persuaded him to visit the tribe of 
Indians at Marshpee, whose pastor, Mr. Briant, had been dismissed, 
and who were dissatisfied with the labors of Mr. Smith. Here he 
was installed April 10, 1758, and passed the remainder of his life, 
being occupied in this place more than half a century in benevolent 
exertion to enlighten the darkened mind, and to promote the salva- 



534 HAY. 

tion of his Indian brethren. He (lied October 3, 1 80^, aged eighty 
years. In his last sickness he observed, " I have hope of accept- 
auice with God, but it is tounded wholly on free and sovereign grace, 
and not at all on my own works. It is true, my labors htrve been 
many ; but they huve been so very imperiect, attended with so 
great a want ol charity and humility, that 1 have no hope in them 
as the ground of my acceptance." He expressed his regret, at the 
same time, that the distinction between grace and works Avas not 
more clearly pointed out by modern preachers. His o^vn discours- 
es from the pulpit were always impressive, and marked with the 
peculiar character of Christian sincerity and goodness. He was 
amiable in private life, happy in his domestic connexions, hospita- 
ble, and benevolent. An extensive correspondence w^s the source 
of much satisfaction to liim. As a missionary he was peculiarly 
well qualified, for there was a dignity in his manner, and an author- 
ity in his voice, Avhich had great influence with the Indians. He 
published in the collections of the Massachusetts historical society 
biographical and topographical anecdotes respecting Sandwich and 
Marshpee, and an interesting letter, giving a narrative of his jour- 
ney to Onohoghgwage.— Pa?Ji5/i/is?, iii. 431; Columbian centinel, 
October 7, 1807 ; Collect, hist soc. iii. 188 — 193 ; iv. 50 — 67. 

H AYNES (John), governor of Massachusetts and of Connecti- 
cut, was a native of Essex in England, and arrived at Boston in 
company with Mr. Hooker in 1633. He was soon chosen an as- 
sistant, and in 1635 governor. The next year he was succeeded 
by Mr. Vane. In 1636 he removed to Connecticut, of which colo- 
ny he was one of the principal founders. He was elected its first 
governor in April 1639, and was replaced in this office every second 
year, which was as often as the constitution would permit, till his 
death in 1654. He was distinguished for his abilities, prudence, 
piety, and public spirit, being considered as in no respect inferior 
*o governor Winthrop. His estate and talents were devoted to the 
interests of the colony of Connecticut. He paid strict attention to 
family worship, and the religious instruction of his children. His 
son, the reverend Joseph Haynes, Avas the minister of the first 
church in Hartford ; but the name is now extinct. One of gover- 
nor Haynes' daughters married Mr. James Russell of Charlestown. 
— Trumbull's Connecticut, i. 34, 223,224 ; Magnalia, ii. 17 ; Hutclu 
inson, i. 34, 43, 53 ; Holmes' annals, i. 365. 

HAYWOOD (Henry), a minister in South Carolina, arrived in 
Charleston from England in 1739, from which time till his death 
in 1755 he was minister to the Socinian Baptists in that city. He 
translated into English Dr. Whitby's treatise on original sin, and 
had prepared for the press a large volume in defence of Dr. Whit- 
by against Dr. Gill, and also a catechism. — Miller^ ii. 365. 

HENRY (Patuick), governor of Virginia, and a most eloquent 
orator, took ivn carlv and decided part in support of the rights of his 



HEN. 3^5 

country against the tyranny of Great Britain. In the year 1765 he 
was a mevuber of the assembly of Virginia, and he introduced 
some I'esolutions, which breathed a spirit of liberty, and which were 
accepted by a small majority on the twenty ninth of May. I'hese 
.were the first resolutions of any assembly ccc'asioned by the stamp 
act. One of the resolutions declared, that the general assembly 
had the exclusive right and power to lay taxes and impositions up- 
on the inhabitants of the colony. Such v/as the wurmth, excited in 
the debate, that Mr. Henry, according to the relation of Mr. Sted- 
man, after declaiming against the arbitrary measures of Great Brit- 
ain, added, " Caesar had his Brutus, (Charles the first an Oliver 

Cromwell, and George the third ," when he was stopped from 

proceeding farther, and .called to order. He was elected in 1774 
one of the deputies from Virginia to the first congress, and was in 
this year one of the committee, which drew up the petition to the 
king. In May 1775, after lord Dunmore had conveyed on board a 
ship a part of the powder from the magazine of Williamsburg, Mr. 
Henry distinguished himself by assembling the independent com- 
panies of Hanover and king William counties, and directing them 
towards Williamsburg with the avowed design of obtaining payment 
for the powder, or of compelling to its restitution. The object was 
effected, for the king's receiver general gave a bill for the value of 
the property. The governor immediately fortified his palace, and 
issued a proclamation, charging those, who had procured the bill, 
with rebellious practices. This only occasioned a number of coun-- 
ty meetings, which applauded the conduct of Mr. Henry, and ex- 
pressed a determination to protect him. In August 1775, when a 
new choice of deputies to congress was made, he was not reelected, 
for his services were now demanded more exclusively in his own 
state. After the departure of lord Dunmore he was chosen the 
first governor in June 1776, and he held this office several succeed- 
ing years, bending all his exertions to promote the freedom and inde- 
pendence of his country. In the beginning of 1778 an anonymous 
letter was addressed to him with the design of alienating his aflec- 
tions from the commander in chief. He enclosed it to Washington 
both to evince his friendship and to put him on his guard. In 
another letter, written a few days afterwards, when he had heard of 
a plan to effect the removal of Washington, he says to him, " while 
you face the armed enemies of our liberty in the field, and, by the 
favor of God, have been kept unhurt, I trust your country will 
never harbor in her bosom the miscreant, who would ruin her best 
supporter ; but when arts unworthy honest men are used to de- 
fame and traduce you, I think it not amiss, but a duty to assure 
you of that estimation, in which the public hold you." 

In June 1778 he was a member, with other illustrious citizens of 
Virginia, of the convention, which was appointed to consider the con- 
stitution of the United States j and he exerted all the force of his 



336 HKN. 

masterly eloquence, day after day, to prevent its adoption. He 
contended that changes were dangerous to liberty ; that the old con- 
federation had carried us through the war, and secured our inde- 
pendence, and needed only amendment ; that the proposed govern- 
ment was a consolidated government, in which tiie sovereignty of 
the states would De lost, and all pretensions to rights und privileges 
would be rendered insecure ; that the want of a bill of rights was 
an essential defect ; that general warrants should have been pro- 
hibited ; and that to adopt the constitution with a view to subse- 
quent amendments was only submitting to tyranny in the hope of 
being liberated from it at some future time. He therefore offered a 
resolution, containing a bill of rights and amendments for the great- 
er security of liberty and property to be referred to the other states 
before the ratification of the proposed form of government. His ' 
resolution however was not accepted. The argument of Pendle- 
ton, Randolph, Madison, and Marshall prevailed against the elo- 
quence of Henry, and the constitution was adopted, though by a 
small majority. Mr. Henry's bill of rights and his amendments were 
then accepted, and directed to be transmitted to the several states. 
Some of these amendments have been ingrafted into the federal 
constitution, on which account as well as on account of the les- 
sons of experience Mr. Henry in a few years lost in a degree his 
repugnance to it. After the resignation of Mr. Randolph in 
August 1795 he was nominated by president Washington as secre- 
tary of state, but considerations of a private nature induced him to 
decline the honorable trust. In November 1796 he was again 
elected governor of Virginia, and this ofhce also he almost imme- 
diately resigned. In the beginning of the year 1799 he was 
appointed by president Adams as an envoy to France with Messrs. 
Ellsworth and Murray. His letter in reply to the secretary of 
state is dated in Charlotte county Aiiril the sixteenth, and in 
it he speaks of a severe indisposition, to which he was then subjecti 
and of his advanced age and increasing debility, and adds, " nothing 
short of absolute necessity could induce me to withhold my little 
aid from an administration, whose abilities, patriotism, and virtue 
deserve the gratitude and reverence of all their fellow citizens.'* 
Governor Davie of North Carolina was in consequence appointed 
in his place. He lived but a short time after this testimony of the 
respect, in which his talents and patriotism were held, for he died 
at Red Hill in Charlotte county June 6, 1799. 

Mr. Henry was a man of eminent talents, of ardent attachment 
to liberty, and of most commanding eloquence. The Virginians 
boast of him as an orator of nature. His general appearance and 
manners were those of a plain farmer. In this character he always 
entered on the exordium of an oration. His unassnnniig looks and 
expressions of humility induced his bearers to listen to him with 
the same easy oi>enness, with wliich they would converse with an 



HEl^. S37 

holiest neighbor. After he had thus disarmed prejudice and pride 
and opened a way to the heart, the inspiration ol his eloquence, 
when little expected, would invest him with the authority ci a 
prophet. With a mind of great powers and a heart of keen sensi- 
bility, he would sometimes rise in the majesty ol his genius, and, 
while he filled the audience with admiration, would with almost ir- 
resistible influence bear along t'ip passions of others with him. 

In pj'ivate life he was as amiable and virtuous, as he was conspic- 
uous in his public career. His principles of liberty and regard to 
Christianity led him to deplore the practice of slavery. On this 
subject, in a letter written in 1773, he inquires, " is it not amazing, 
that at a time, when the rignts of humanity are defined and under- 
stood with precision, in a country above all others fond of liberty ; 
that in such an age and such a country we find men, professing a 
religion, the most humane, mild, gentle, and generous, adopting a 
principle, as repugnant to humanity, as it is inconsistent with the bi- 
ble, and destructive to liberty ? — Would any one believe, that I ara 
master of slaves of my own purchase ? I am drawn along by the general 
inconvenience of being here without them. I will not — I cannot j ustify 
it. — I believe a time will come, when an opportunity will be offered to 
abolish this lamientable evil. Every thing we can do istoimprove it, if it 
happens in our day ; if not, let us transmit to our descendants, togeth- 
er with our slaves, a pity for their unhappy lot, and an abhoiTence of 
slavery," In another letter to Archibald Blair, esquire, Avritten 
but a few months before his death, after lamenting the violence of 
parties in Virginia, and reprobating French infidelity, and manners, 
and politics, he adds, " I am too old and infirm ever again to under- 
take public concerns. I live much retired amidst a multiplicity of 
blessings from that gracious Ruler of all things, to whom I owe 
unceasing acknov»iedgments for his unremitted goodness to me.-^ 
And if I were permitted to add to the catalogue one other blessing, 
it should be, th:.). my countrymen should learn wisdom and virtue, 
and in this their day to know the things, that pertain to their 
peace." The following affectionate tribute to the memory of Hen- 
ry, Mdiich appeared in the Virginia papers immediately after his 
death, though not a specimen of perfect taste, will yet further illus- 
trate his character by showing the estimation, in wh.ich he was 
held by those, who knew him. " Mourn, Virginia, mourn ; your 
Henry is gone. Ye friends to liberty in every clime, drop a tear. 
No more will his social feelings spread delight through his happy- 
house. No more will his edifying example dictate to his nume- 
rous offspring the sweetness of virtue, and the majesty of patriot- 
ism. No more will his sage advice, giiilded by zeal for the com- 
mon happiness, impart light and utility to his caressing neighbors. 
No more will he illuminate the public councils with sentiments 
drawn from the cabinet of his own mind, ever directed to his coun- 
ti'y's goed, and clothed in eloquence sublime, delightful; and com- 
44 



33S HER. 

manding. Fariewell, first rale patriot, farewell. As long as our 
rivers flow, or mountains stand, so long- will your excelkuce and 
worth be the theme ol" our homage and endearment ; and Virginia, 
bearing in mind her loss, will say to rising generations, imitate my 
Henry." — Monthly anthology., i. 459, 489, 543 ; Marshal^ ii. 88, 
180, 209, 210 ; afifiaid. 25 — 27 ; iii, atipend. 12, 15 ; v. afifiend. 
31, 32 ; Virginia debates^ tsec. edit. IT., 42, 309, 316, 327, 336, 357, 
416, 420 ; Stedman.^ i. 33 ; Gordon^ ii. 85, 86 ; Annual register for 
1776, 19, 20 ; Clayfioole''3 advertiser., June 21, 1799 ; Columb. cen- 
iinel, JVbve?nber 5, 1800 ; Holmes' annals., ii. 499. 

HKRSEY (Ezekiel), an eminent physician of Hingham, Mas- 
sachusetts, and a benefactor of Harvard college, Avas graduated at 
that seminary in 1728, and die^ December 9, 1770. He bequeath- 
ed to the college, in which he was educated, one thousand pounds 
sterling towards founding a professorship of anatomy and surgery. 
His widow also gave the same sun\ for the same purpose. Dr. 
Warren, the present professor, was the first, who was established 
on this foundation. — 'Holmes' annals., W- 297. 

HERSEY (Abner), an eminent physician of Barnstable, Mas- 
sachusetts, was the brother of the preceding and died not manjF 
years after him. He bequeathed to Harvard college five hundred 
pounds towards the establishment of a professorship of the theory 
and practice of physic. The first professor in this department was 
the present one. Dr. Waterhouse. Dr. Hersey also bequeathed 
about five h\mdred pounds, the interest of which he directed to be 
applied annuaiiy to tlie purchase of religious publications, which 
should be distributed in all the towns on cape Cod. He directed 
Avhat books should be selected for a hundred years ; after the expi- 
ration of which time the ministers and deacons of the several towns, 
to whose care his donation is entrusted, are authorized to select any 
religious books at their pleasure, excepting on every fourth year, 
when the books, which he designated, among which are some of 
Doddridge's works, are to be distributed forever. 

HI ACOOMES, the first Indian in New England, who was con- 
verted to Christianity and a minister at Martha's Vineyard, lived 
upon this island, when a few English families first settled here in 
1642. Under the instruction of the reverend Thomas Mayhew he 
eagerly received the truths of the gospel. Having learned to read, 
he in 1645 began to teach his copper colored brethren the Christ- 
ian doctrines, and he did not libor in vain. A number of them 
were soon impressed with a sense of their guilt in living, as they 
had done, and sought for pardon from him, who is the propitiation 
for the sins of the world. The sachems and ])awaws, or priests, did 
not observe this progress of Christianity with indifference. While 
the latter threatened to destroy all the praying Inilians with witch- 
craft, their menaces were particularly directed against Hiacoomes ; 
but he said to them, " I believe in God find put my trust in him, and 



HIG. 339 

thepefore all the pawaws can do me no hurl." In 1650, when he 
lost a young child, the funeral was performed in the English man- 
ner. The mourners did not discolor their faces, nor deposit any 
utensils or goods in the grave, nor howl Over the dead. After the 
death of Mr. Mayhew in 1657, he continued his benevolent labors, 
though he greatly lamented the loss of that good man, by whom he 
had been enlightened in the knowledge of the truth, and whose in« 
structions gave him the power of instructing others. In August 
1670 an Indian church was regularly formed on Martha's Vineyard, 
and Hiacoomes and T^ckanash were ordained its pastor and teach- 
er by the reverend Messrs. Eliot and Cotton. Hiacoomes survived 
his colleague, and died about the year 1690, aged near eighty years. 
He was a faithful and successful minister, slow in speech, grave in 
manners, and blameless ju his life. While he taught the Indians 
the doctrine of the Trinity, the fall of Adam, the wretched state of 
'his descendants, and the wuy of redempdon by Jesus Christ, he was 
also courageous in reprehending them for worshipping their false 
gods and adhering to their pawaws. He was not elated by thfe 
high office, which he sustained, but ever continued humble. At 
■the ordination of Mr. Japhet, who succeeded Tackanash as his col- 
league, he prayed, imposed hands, and gave the charge Avith miuch 
propriety. In his last sickness he expressed the hopes of a Christ- 
ian, and gave good exhortations to those around hirn ; and at his 
death he without doubt entered into that rest, from \vhich many of 
the learned and refined, who love not the Lord Jesus Christ, will be 
excluded. — Mayhem's Indian converts \ Mather's magnalia, iii. 199 ; 
JSTears JV. E. i. 263,— 271. 

HIGGINSON (Francis), first minister of Salem, Massachu- 
setts, after receiving his education at Emanuel college in Cam- 
bridge, became the minister of a church at Leicester in England. 
Here he devoted himself to the duties of his office, bending all his 
efforts to produce that renovation of heart and holiness of life, with- 
out which no man can see the kingdom of God. While his popular 
talents filled his church with attentive hearers, such was the divine 
blessing upon his labors, that a deep attention to religious subjects 
was excited among his people, and he witnessed with pleasure the 
progress of uprightness, benevolence, and piety among the dishon- 
est, the selfish, and the impious. Becoming at length a conscien- 
tious nonconformist to the rites of the English church, some of 
which he thought not only were unsupported by scripture, but cor- 
rupted the purity of Christian worship anddiscipline, hewas exclud- 
ed from the parish pulpit. In such estimation however was he 
held by a number of conformist ministers, that they frequently re- 
quested his services as long as they could do it without exposing 
themselves to trouble. He also obtained liberty to preach a lecture 
in Leicester, and often attended private meetings for prayer and re* 
4igious conference with a number of excellent Christians. As the 



340 HIG. 

spirit of ecclesiastical tyranny became more jealous and rigorous, 
informution^was lodged against Mr. Higginson, and while he was 
daily expecting to be dragt!;cd away l)y pursuivants to the high 
commission court, a kind providence interposed remarkably in his 
favor, and provided for him a place of security. One day two 
messengers came to his house, and with loud knocks cried out, 
" where is Mr. Higginson f We must spcik with^Mr. Iligginsou 1" 
His wife ran to his chamber and entreated him to conceal himself; 
but he replied, that he should acquiesce in the will of God. He 
went down, and as the messengers entered the hall they presented 
him with some papers, saying in a rough manner, " sir, we came 
from London, and aur business is to convey you to London, as you 
may see by those papers." " 1 thought so," exclaimed Mrs. Hig- 
ginson weeping ; but a woman's tears could have little eftect upon 
liard hearted pursuivants. IMr. Higginson opened the packet ta 
read the form of his arrest, but instead of an order from bishop 
Laud for his seizure he found a copy of the charter of Massachu- 
setts, and letters from the governor and company, inviting him to 
embark with them for New England. The sudden transition of 
feeling from despondence to joy inspired him with the same good 
humor, which induced his friends to act the part oi his enemies, 
and a pleasant interview succeeded. 

Having sought advice and implored the divine direction, he re- 
solved to accept the invitation. In his farewell sermon, preached 
before a vast assembly, he declared his persuasion, that England 
•would be chastised by war, and that Leicester would have more than 
an ordinary share of sufferings. It was not long before his predic- 
tion was verified. It is not meant, that he claimed the power of 
foretelling future events ; but he could reason with considerable ac- 
curacy from cause to effect, knowing that iniquity is generally fol- 
lowed by its punishment, and he lived in an age, when it was usual 
for ministers to speak with more confidence, and authority, and effi- 
cacy, than at present. He sailed from Gravesend A\iv\l 25, 1629, 
accompanied by the reverend Mr. Skelton, whose principles accord- 
ed mth his own. When he came to the land's end, he called his 
children and the other passengers on deck to take the last view of 
their native country ; and he now exclaimed, " farewell England, 
farewell the church of God in England, and all the Christian friends 
there. We do not go to America as seiiaratists from the church of 
England, though we cannot but separate from its corruptions.". He 
then concluded with a fervent prayer for the king, church, and 
state in England. He arrived at cape Ann, June 27, 1629, and 
having spent the next day here, which was Sunday, on the twenty 
ninth he entered the harbor of Salem. July the twentieth was ob- 
served as a day of fasting by tiiC appointment of governor Endicot, 
and the church then made choice of Mr. Higginson to be their 
tcmcher, and Mr. Skelton their pastor. Each with the assistance of 



HIG. 341 

some of the gi'avest members of the church laid liis hands at this 
time on the other with prayer. A more solemn investiture took 
place on the sixth of August, when about thirty persons accepted a 
confession of faith and church covenant, which had been drawn up 
by Mr. Higginson, and the two ministers were again ordained by 
the imposition of hands. Governor Bradford and others trom the 
church of Plymouth gave them the right hand of fellowship. As 
both these ministers had been ordained by bishops in England, and 
as Mr. Higginson professed not to be a separate from the establish- 
ed church, this ordination cannot be consiilered as investing them 
with the sacred office, but only as introducing them to the pastoral 
care of a particular flock. Thus auspicious was the commence- 
ment of the settlement of Naumkeak, or Salem ; but the scene was 
soon changed. During the first winter about one hundred persons 
died, and Mr. Higginson was soon seized with a hectic, which ter- 
minated his days in August 1 630, in the forty third year of his age. 
In his last sickness he was reminded of his benevolent exertions in 
the service of the Lord Jesus Christ. To consoling suggestions of 
this kind he replied, " I have been an unprofitable servant, and all 
my desire is to win Christ, and be found in him, not having my own 
righteousness." His family, consisting of his wife and eight chil- 
dren, whom he was about to leave without a suitable provision for 
their maintenance, he cheerfvdly commended to the care of God, 
being fully persuaded, that his favor would attend them. 

He was a zealous and useful preacher, mild in his doctrines, but 
strict in discipline. He admitted none into the church without sat- 
isfactory evidence, that they were truly religious, and excluded 
the ignorant and immoral from the table of the Lord. In his de- 
portment he was grave, and pure in morals, and though not rash in 
his decisions, he was not easily shaken from his purposes. In his 
person he was slender and not tall. His son, Francis Higginson, 
went to Europe, and after residing some time as a student at Ley- 
den, and visiting other universities upon the continent, was settled 
as a minister at Kerby Steven in Westmoreland, England, where 
he died about the year 1670, in the fifty filth year of his age. He 
was the first, who wrote against the quakers, and he published also 
a latin treatise concerning the five principal lights, uncreated and 
created light, and the light of nature, grace, and glory. 

Mr. Higginson of Salem wrote an account of his voyage, which 
is preserved in Hutchinson's collection of papers. He wrote also 
a short account of that part of Massachusetts, which was now set- 
tling, and of the Indians, entitled, New England's plantation, or a 
short and true description of the commodities and discommodities 
of that country. It was published in 4to in 1630, and has been 
lately reprinted in the collections of the historical society. This 
curious account is generally correct, though the isle of slates, and 
the marble, and the lions existed only in report and imagination.-— 



342 HIG. 

Mathers inagiialia, i, 18, 19 ; iii. 70 — 75 ; Collect, hist. goc. i. 1 17—, 
124 ; vi. 231, 242 — 244 ; ix. 2 — 3 ; Mal*s M E. i. 145 ; Morse 
and Parish'' 8 JV. E. 96—101 ; Prince^ 248 ; Hutchinson, i. 10, 11; 
his collection, 32 — 50 ; Holmes' atmals, i. 250. 

HIGGINSON (John), minister of Salem, Massachusetts, was 
the son olthe preceding, and was born in England August 6, 1616, 
Some time after the death of his father, with whom he came .to 
this country in 1629, he was the instructer of a school at Hartford, 
Connecticut, his mother with six of her children being somewhat 
dependent upon his exertions lor her support. Having become a 
preacher, he was chaplain at Saybrook fort a number of years. In 
1641 he went to Guilford, and preached about two years as an as- 
sistant to Mr. Whitfield, whose daughter he married. In 1643 he 
was chosen one of the seven pillars of Guilford. The practice of 
choosing from among the brethren seven persons, who were called 
pillars, to whom the other church members were gathered, had be- 
fore been adopted m New Haven and Miliord. After the church 
was completely organized in Guilford )n 1643, Mr. Higginson was 
elected teacher to assist Mr. Whitfield ; but he was not ordained. 
About the year 1650 Mr. Whitfield returned to England, and Mr. 
Higginson remained as teacher of the church. But in 1659 he left 
that town with the intention of revisiting his native country. On 
his arrival at Salem he was persuaded to preach one year in the 
church, where his futher had been settled, and was ordained in Au- 
gust 1660. Here he continued near half a century till his death 
December 9, 1708, in the mnety third year of his age. He had 
been seventy two years in the muiioterial office. His coUeague, 
Mr. Nicholas Noyes, survived him. 

The ordination of Mr. Higginson, it seems, took place in a man- 
ner somewhat peculiar. The hands of the deacons and of one of 
^he brethren were imposed in the presence of the neighboring 
churches and elders. Whether they united in this ceremony is not 
-known ; but Mr. Norton of Boston gave the right hand of fellow- 
ship. Mr. Higginson was at first zealous against the quakers, and 
he lived to lament, that his zeal was so warm. As a preacher he 
was highly respected. Judge Scwall calls him, " that aged and 
venerable divine ;" and Dr. Mather speaks of him, in the eighty 
eighth year of his age, as then performing the duties of his office 
with such manly, pertinent, judicious vigor, and with so little decay 
of his intellectual abilities, as excited admiration. In his worldly 
affairs he was often embarrassed, being supported during part of 
his ministry by voluntary contribution. It is considerable evidence 
of his good sense and of his licncvolcncc, that he took no part in 
the proceedings relating to witchcraft in 1692. He published an 
election sermon, entitled, the cause of God and his people in New 
England, 1663 j our dying Savior's legacy of peace to his disci- 
ples in a troublesome world, with a discourse on the duty of Christ- 



HIL. 34S 

ians to be witnesses unto Christ, unto which is added some help to 
self examiriution, i68o ; an attestation to Dr. Matliei's inutxii'ilia, 
or cluu'ch history of New England, prefixed to that work, and dited, 
1697 ; a testimony to the order of tlic i^ospe) in the churciios of 
New England with Mr. Hubbard, 1701 ; an epistle to the reader, 
prefixed to Hale's inquiry into the nature ot witchcrult, 1702 ; a 
preface to Thomas Allen's invitation to thirsty sinners ; the de- 
plorable state of New England, 1708. — Mug'nalia,ni.66,76 ; Collect. 
MsL soc.iv. 187 ; vi. 243, 244,259 — 264,271,272; Huic/iinsony 
J. 425; ii, 176; Trumbuirs Connect, i. 292, 298, 310; JsToyes* 
elegy ; Holmes' annals.^ ii. 74. 

HILLIARD (Timothy), minister of Cambridge, Massachu- 
setts, was born in Kensington, New Hampshire, in 1746, and was 
graduated at Harvard college in 1764. When he entered the pul- 
pit as a preacher of the gospel, his labors were very acceptable, 
and he was thought not only to have just views of the Christian 
doctrines, but to have experienced their efficacy on his own heart. 
In 1768 he was appointed chaplain of castle William, and after offi- 
ciating a few months was elected a tutor of the college, in which 
he was educated. He was ordained the niinister of Barnstable 
April 10, 1771, as the successor of the reverend Mr. Green ; but 
after continuing his benevolent exertions in this place for twelve 
years, respected and beloved by his people, he was induced in con- 
sequence of his impaired health, occasioned by the dampness of 
the sea air, to request a dismission, which was given him April 30, 
1783. He was succeeded by the reverend John Mellcn. On the 
twenty seventh of October following he was installed at Cambridge, 
as colleague with the venerable Dr. Appleton. He was peculiarly- 
well qualified for the conspicuous station, in which by divine provi- 
dence he was now placed ; for he possessed an easy and pleasing 
elocution and a devotional manner, and his discourses were pure in 
language, replete with judicious sentiments, well arranged, instruc- 
tive, and truly evangelical. But the power of doing good was 
continued to him but a few years. In tb.e midst of his usefulness 
and with an increasing reputation he died suddenly May 9, 1 790, in 
the forty fourth year of his age. A short time before Jic expired, 
he expressed his full confidence in God, and said, that he enjoyed 
those consolations, which he had endeavored to impart to others. 

While he was respected for his talents and acquisitions, and made 
himself pleasing in social intercourse, he also possessed an amiable 
temper, kind and sympathetic feelings, and the genuine benevo- 
lence of the gospel. Though firm in the maintenance of his re- 
ligious sentiments, he was yet conspicuous for his candor. He 
published a fast sermon, preached at Barnstable ; a sermon at the 
execution of three persons, 1785 ; at the ordination of the reve- 
rend Bezaleel Howard, Springfield ; of the reverend John An- 
drews, 1789 ; and a Dudleian ]eciure.-—Willard's fun. sermon i 
•Holmes' /list, of Cambridge ; Collect, hist. soc. iii. 16 ; vii. 63 — 67. 



344. HIT. 

HITCHCOCK (Enos, d.d.), minister of Providence, Rhode laJ- 
and, was a native of Springfield, Massachusetts, and was graduated 
at Harvard college in 1767. He was ordained in 1771 a colleague 
of the aged Mr. Chipman, pastor of the second church in Beverly, 
At the commencement of the war his zeal for his country's rights 
induced him to become a chaplain in the American army. Believ- 
ing, that his duty to the public and to nis family required, that his 
connexion with the church in Beverly should be dissolved^ he was 
dismissed in 1780. In intervals of leisure from duty in the cafnp 
he preached at Providence, and was installed October 1, 1783. He 
died February 27, 1803, in the fifty ninth year of his age. Distin- 
guished by active, habitual benevolence through lile, at his death he 
bequeathed twenty five hundred dollars for the establishment of a 
fund for the support of the ministry in his society. Ho paid great 
attention to the education of youth, and while he wrote upon the 
subject he projected and promoted the establishment of free schools. 
He was an excellent preacher and died in peace. He publislied a 
book of catechetical instructions and forms of devotion for children 
and youth ; memoirs of the Bloomsgrove family, a work on edu- 
cation, 2 vol. 12mo, 1790 ; a sermon at the dedication of his meet- 
ing house, 1795.— Ta/i/ian*s ser/)io?i on his death. 

HOAR (Leonard, m. d.), president of Harvard college, was 
graduated in that seminary in 1650, and in 1653 went to England, 
and took the degree of doctor in medicine at the university in Cam- 
bridge. He was afterwards settled as the minister of Wensted in 
Sussex, from which parish he was ejected for his nonconformity in 
1 662. He returned to this country in 1 672 and preached a short time 
as an assistant to the reverend Thomas Thacher at the south church 
in Boston. In July he was chosen president, to supply the loss of 
the reverend Mr. Chauncy, and was inducted into this office on the 
tenth of September. As a scholar and a Christian he was very 
respectable ; but falling under the displeasure of a few men of in- 
fluence in the neighborhood, the students wore thus encouraged to 
array themselves against him, and his situation was rendered so 
unpleasant, that he was under the necessity of resigning his office 
March 15, 1675. He was succeeded by Mr. Oakes. The inju- 
ries, which he had suffered, visibly affected his health, and induced 
a consumption, of which he died November 28, 1675. While he 
was president, there was a contribution through the colony for 
erecting a'new building for the college, and eighteen hundred and 
ninety five pounds wtve collected. A valuable letter of Dr. Hoar 
to Josiah Flynt, giving him direction in his studies, is published 
in the collections of the Massachusetts historical society. — Ma^na' 
/in, iv. 129 ; Collect, hl.it. soc. v'l. 100 — lOS ; .Yi^al's ^Y. E. i, 390 ; 
HutchinHon., i. 174; Nonconform, memorial., ii. 222. 

HORART (Fkter), first minister of Hingham, ^lassachusetts, 
was born in the town of the same name in England in 1604^ and 



HOB. 345 

Was (Educated at the university of Cambridge. After he began to 
preach, the impositions of the prelatical party induced liim to come 
to this country. He arrived June 8, 1635, and in September fol- 
lowing he began, with a number of his friends, a new plantation at 
Hingham. Here he continued till his death, January 20, 1679. 
Four oi his sons were respectable ministers, of whom Joshua was 
settled at Southold on Long Island, Jeremiah at Haddam, and Gcr- 
shom at Groton, Connecticut. — Magnalia, iii. 153 — 155; Brain- 
erd's iife, 1 ; Hoimen' annals, i. 281. 

HO BART (Nehemi ah), minister of Newton, was the son of the 
preceding, and was born November 21, 1648. He was graduated 
at Harvard college in 1 667. After preaching two years at Newton, 
he was ordained December 23, 1674, as successor of Mr. Eliot, and 
died August 12, 1712, in the sixty fourth year of his age. Mr. 
Cotton succeeded him. He was humble, pious, and learned. He 
published a sermon entitled, the absence of the Comforter described 
and lamented. — Collect, hist. soc. v. 267—269 ; jx. 196. 

HOBART (Noah), minister of Fairfield, Connecticut, was grad- 
uated at Harvard college in 1724, and about the year 1734 was or- 
dained as the successor of the reverend Joseph Webb. In a few 
years a number of persons in Fairfield county adopted the episco- 
palian worship, separating themselves from the congregational 
churches, and some of the episcopal missionaries represented the 
ministers of the country as not the true ministers of Christ. In con- 
sequence of this Mr. Hobart was induced to write upon the subject 
of presbyterian ordination and to vindicate its validity in a sermon, 
■which he preached at the close of the year 1746. In answer to him 
Mr. Wetmore wrote his vindication of the professors of the church 
of England in Connecticut. A controversy now commenced, in 
which Mr. Hobart had for his opponents Dr. .Tohnson, Mr. Wet- 
more, Mr. Beach, and Mr. Cancr. He contended, that the inhabi- 
tants of the American plantations were not obliged by any laws of God 
or man to conform to the prelatic church, as established in the south 
part of Great Britain, that it was not prudent to embrace the epis- 
copal communion, and that it was not lawful for members of the 
New England churches to separate from them and produce a schism. 
He also animadverted upon the conduct of the society for propagat- 
ing the gospel in foreign parts, and upon the misrepresentations of 
its missionaries. This controversy lasted a num.ber of years. Mr. 
Hobart died December 6, 1773, in the sixty eighth year of his age, 
and the forty first of his ministry. In his life he exhibited the vir- 
tues, and in his death the resignation and peace of the Christian. 
Not long before his departure from the world, as some one remark- 
ed to him, that he was going to receive his reward, he replied, " I 
am going, I tinist, to receive the mercy of God through JesuB 
Christ." 

Mr. Hobart had few equals in this country for acuteness of ge^ 
45 



346 HOB. 

nius and learning. A sound judgment, a retentive memory, and 
an uncommonly social And communicative temper, joined to a 
knowledge of books, and an extensive acquaintance with most 
branches of science, especially with history and divinity, which 
were his favorite studies, rendered his conversation very interest- 
ing and useful. In the public offices of religion he acquitted him- 
self with graceful dignity, and with a solemnity, which indicated 
a deep impression of the majesty of that Being, in whose presence 
he appeared. In his preaching he addressed himself to the under- 
standing rather than to the imagination and -passions, inculcating 
the great doctrines of regeneration, of repentance towards God, 
and faith in Jesus Christ, and pressing with earnestness upon his 
hearers the necessity of that holiness, without which no man will be 
admitted to heaven. He published a sermon at the ordination of 
the reverend Noah Welles, 1747 ; a serious address to the mem- 
bers of the episcopal separation in New England, 1748 ; election 
sermon, 1750 ; a second address to the members of the episcopal 
separation in New England, 1751; a vindication of the piece, en- 
titled, the principles of congregational churches &c. applied to the 
case of the late ordination at Wallingford, occasioned by remarks 
made thereon by Mr. Hart, I 7 6\.-^ Welles' Jun. sermon; Holmes* 
a!nnals^\\. 307. 

HOB ART (JoHTN Sloss), judge of the district court of New 
York, was die son of the preceding, and died February 4, 1805, in 
the sixty seventh year of his age, having sustained through life a 
blameless character. During the late war he was placed in some of 
the most important and confidential stations in New York. Mr. Jay, 
Mr. Hobart, and Mr. Yates were appointed the three judges of the 
supreme court first appointed after the revolution. This place he 
held for a number of years. In 1798 he was chosen a senator of the 
United States. — .A'*. York sfiectalor^ February 5, 1806 ; Monthly an- 
'hology^ ii. 111. 

HOLDEN (Samuel), a benefactor of the province of Massachu- 
setts, died in London in 1740. A sermon on his death was preach- 
ed in Boston by Dr. Colman before the general court. Mr. Hol- 
den was at the head of the dissenters in England, and at the head of 
the bank of England. Such was his benevolence and regard to re- 
ligion, that he sent to Dr. Colman thirty nine sets of Baxter's prac- 
tical works in four massy folios, to be distributed among our church- 
es. The amount of his charities for promoting the gospel and 
other useful purposes was four thousand eight hundred and forty 
seven pounds, New England currency. After his death his Avidow 
and daughters gave in the same liberal and benevolent spirit five 
thousand five hundred and eighty five pounds. Holden chapel for 
the college at Cambridge was built by their donation. Mr. Holden 
was a man of unfeigned ])iety. He says in a letter, " I hope my 
treasure is in hcavenvand would to God mjr heart were more there 



HOL. 347 

Abstract from God and futurity, I would not accept of an eternity 
here in any given circumstances whatever." — Colman's sermon on 
his death ; Cohnan's life, 113, 114. 

HOLLIS (Thomas), a most liberal benefactor of Harvard col- 
lege, was born in England in 1659 of pious parents, and being im- 
pressed by religious truth and having embraced the principles of 
the baptists, he was baptized in 1679. About the year 1700 he 
was chosen a deacon of the reverend Mr. Palmer's church in Lon- 
don, and he died in February 1731, aged about seventy two years. 
He was for many years an eminent merchant, and while success at- 
tended his exertions, it pleased God to incline him also to charita- 
ble and benevolent deeds in proportion to his wealth. .He founded 
tAvo professorsliips in Harvard college, the professorship of divinity 
and of mathematics. He also presented a valuable apparatus for 
mathematical and philosophical experiments, and at different times 
augmented the library with many valuable books. In 1727 the net 
•produce of his donations, exclusive of gifts not vendible, amounted 
to four thousand, and nine hundred pounds. New England currency, 
the interest of which he directed to be appi'Ppriated to the support 
of the two professors, to the treasurer of the college, and to ten 
poor students in divinity. The liberality of Mr. Hollis seemed to 
proceed from a pious heart. He says in a letter, after speaking of 
some of his efforts to do good ; " I think not hereby to be justifi- 
ed. My rejoicing is in Jesus Christ, my God and Savior." He 
also ascribes all, that he was, " to rich, free, and sovereign, electing 
love." Being a Calvinist in his sentiments, he required his pro- 
fessor, of divinity to be " of sound or orthodox principles." Still he 
was not governed by a sectarian spirit ; he did not require the 
preference of his own baptist denomination ; but the professorship 
was open to every one, who, in his view, embraced the important 
and fundamental doctrines of the gospel. His first professor was 
the reverend Dr. Wigglesworth. His nephew, Thomas Hollis, 
who died in 1774, had a most ardent attachment to liberty, and en- 
deavored to promote it by the publication and distribution of books, 
which vindicate the rights of man. His benefactions to the library 
of Harvard college amounted to about fourteen hundred pounds 
sterling.-: — Caiman's and Wigglesnvorth's sermons, Greenwood's dis- 
courscy and Eudd's poem on his death ; Memoirs of Thomas Hollis^ \. 
1; ii. 598— 601.; Morse's true,reasons, ^c.j Hobnes' annals, ii. 
13D. 

HOLYQKE (Edward), president -of Harvard • college, was 
graduated in that seminary in 1705, and after being a tutor for a 
few years was ordained the minister of a new society in Mavble- 
head April 25, 1716. He continued in this place until 1737, when 
he was elected president of the college, in which he was educated. 
He was inducted into this office as the snccessor of president Wads- 
worth on the twenty eigluli of September. lie died June 1, 176.9. 



348 HOO. 

in the eightieth year of his ai];e, retaining the vigor of his mind 
and considerable strength of body, and discharging the duties of 
his station until a few months before. Ho was succeeded by the 
reverend Mr. Locke. Asa minister of the gospel, while Mr. Hol- 
yoke contended for the free and sovereign grace of God in our sal- 
vation} he was also zealous for good works, and by his benevolence, 
uprightness, and the uniform integrity of his conduct he c/^empli- 
fied the lessons, which he inculcated upon others. His excellence 
as a preacher was such, as gained him a high reputation. At the 
head of the university he possessed a dignity peculiar to himself, 
ttis majestic appearance, his speech, and demeanor were calculated 
to impress with awe ; but notwithstanding his air of dignity and 
authority he was humble in heart. He sought not praise from 
men, but endeavored to secure the approbation of God. Having a 
vigorous constitution, and knowing the value of time, his hours 
were appropriated to particular duties, and he was remarkable for 
his punctuality, exactness, and order. He was eminent in the va- 
I'ious walks of literature, but he principally excelled in his acquaint- 
ance with mathematics and natural philosophy. He published an 
election sermon, 1736 ; a sermon at the ordination of James Diman, 
1737 ; at a convention of ministers, 174 1. — ^fifileton's sermons on his 
death ; Seival/'s oratio funehris ; Collect, hist. soc. viii. 70 — 75 j x, 
158; Holmes' annalsy ii. 294. 

HOOKER (Thomas), the first minister of Cambridge, Mas- 
sachusetts, and one of the founders of the colony of Connecticut, 
was born in Leicestershire, England, !in 1586, and was educated at 
Emanuel college, Cambridge. In his youth he had such a deep 
sense of his guilt, as filled his mind with anguish ; but at length he 
found peace through the blood of the Redeemer, and an exemplary 
life of piety and goodness proved, that his hope would not make 
him ashamed. After preaching for some time in London he was 
chosen lecturer and assistant to Mr. Mitchel at Chelmsford in 
1626. He was remarkably successful in his labors ; but being 
silenced in about four years for his nonconformity, he established a 
grammar school, and continued to exert his whole influence for the 
Christian cause. Forty seven conforming clergymen in his neigh- 
borhood petitioned the bishop of London on his behalf ; but Laud 
was of too imperious and determhied a spirit to suffer any circum- 
stance to shake him from his purpose, when he had an oi)poitunity 
to lay his hands upon a puritan. Mr. Hooker was obliged to flee to 
Holland about the year 1630, and he preached sometimes at Delft, 
and sometimes at Rotterdam, being an assistant to the celebrated 
Dr. Ames. 

lx\ 1633 he came to New England in company with Mr. Cotton 
4md Mr. Stone, and was settled with the latter at Newtown or Cam- 
bridge on the eleventh of October, being ordained by the imposi- 
tion of Iho hands of the brethren of the church. In June 1636 hr 



HOO. 349 

removed with a hundred others to a fertile spot on the baiiks of the 
Connecticut river, which they called Hartford, having travelled 
through the w^ilderness with no other guide than a compass. In 
tins new colony he had great influence in establishing the order of 
the churches. He died of an epidemical fever July 7, 1647, in the 
sixty second year of his age. As he was dying, he said, " I am 
going to receive mercy ;" and then closed his own eyes, and ex- 
pired with a smile on his countenance. He was a remarkably ani- 
mated and interesting preacher. With a loud voice, an expressive 
countenance, and a most commanding presence he delivered the 
truths of God with a zeal and energy seldom equalled. He ap- 
peared with such majesty in the pulpit, that it was pleasantly said 
of him, that " he could put a king into his pocket." He has been, 
called the Luther, and Mr. Cotton the Melancthon of New Eng- 
land. It was his custom, it seems, to preach without his notes. On 
a visit to Massachusetts in May 1639, he preached on the Sabbath 
at Cambridge, and governor Winthrop went from Boston to hear 
hirn. Having named his text in the afternoon, he proceeded about 
a quarter of an hour with gixat loudness of voice and vehemence 
of manner, when suddenly he found himself entirely at a loss what 
to say. After several ineffectual attempts to proceed, he observed 
to the assembly, that what he intended to have spoken v/as taken 
from him, and requesting them to sing a psalm withdrew for halt 
an hour. He then returned and preached about two hours with 
wonderful pertinency and vivacity. After the sermon, he said to 
some of his friends, " we daily confess, that we can do nothing 
without Christ, and what if Christ should prove this to be the fact 
before the whole congregation ?" Dr. Ames declared, that he never 
met with Mr. Hooker's equal either in preaching or disputation. 
While he lived in his native country he was invited to preach 
in the great church of Leicester, and one of the chief burgesses 
set a fiddler in the church yard to disturb the worship. Mr. Hook- 
er elevated his voice to such a pitch and spoke with such animation, 
as to rouse the curiosity of the man and attract him to the church 
door. There he listened, and such solemn truths reached his ears, 
as by the blessing of God were the means of his salvation. Though 
his own preaching was generally very practical and experimental, 
he advised young ministers to preach the whole system of divinity 
both for their own benefit and that of their people. In the gov- 
ernment of the church he would propound nothing for decision till 
it had been previously considered by some of the principal breth- 
ren, and would say, " the elders must have a church in a church, 
it they would preserve the peace of the church." Though na- 
tu rally irascible in his temper, he acquired a remarkable command 
of his passions. He was condescending, benevolent, and charitable. 
It Avas no uncommon act of beneficence with him to give five or ten 
pounds to the necessitous. At a time, when there ^vas a great 



£50 KOO. 



i 

ends 



scarcity at Southampton upon Long Island, he with some frieni 
sent the inhabitants a small vessel, freighted with corn. His be- 
nevolence was uiiited with piety. One day in every month he de- 
voted to private prayer and fasting, and he used to say, that prayei* 
was the principal .part of a minister's work. In his family he ex- 
hibited a lively devotion, and all, who resided under his roof, were 
instructed and edified by him. 

His most cclebratedwork, entitled, a survey of the sum of church 
discipline, was published in England in 4to, 1 6-18, under the inspec- 
tion of the famous Dr. Thomas Goodwin, who says, " as touch- 
ing this treatise and the Avorthy author of it, to preface any thing 
by commendation of either were to lay paint upon burnished mar- 
ble, or add light unto the sun." In this work Mr. Hooker contends, 
that each church has in itself full power to excercise all church 
discipline, but that there is a necessity for consociations, which may 
proceed against a church, pertinaciously offending, with a sentence 
of non communion. Mr. John Higginson transcribed fi'om his 
manuscripts about two hundred sermons and sent them to Eng- 
land; and near one half of them were published. The titles of 
some, of his discourses and treatises are the following ; the soul's 
preparation for Christ ; the soul's humiliation ; exaltation ; voca-f 
tion ; implantation.; the unbeliever preparing; of self denial ; du- 
ty and dignity of saints ; on the Lord's prayer ; on church disci- 
pline ; four treatises on the carnal hypocrite, the church's deliver- 
ance, the dcceitfulnes? of sin, the benefits of afflictions, 1638 ; the 
■goul's possession ; pattern to perfection ; saint's guide ; the ap- 
'^lication of redemption ; and the poor, doubting Christian drawji to 
Christ. The seventh edition of this last and excellent work was 
published at Boston in 1743. — Mat/icr's magtialia, iii. 58 — 68 ; Col- 
irct. hist. soc. vii. 38—41 ; Trumbull's Connect, i. 10, 48, 55, 306 ; 
JVeal's jV. it. i. 289--290 ; Morton^ 135 — 140; Winthroji^ 181; 
Jfutchinson, i. 34, 43, 45 ; his collection, 54 ; .Mor«e,and Parish's A*. 
£. 142 — 149 ; Holmes' annals, i. 344. 

HOOKER (John), minister of Northampton, Massachusetts, 
was a descendant of the preceding, being his great grandson, and 
was a native of Farmington, Connecticut. He was graduated at 
Yale college in 1751, and was ordained at Northampton in 1754. 
After a ministry of about twenty three years he died February 6> 
1777, in the forty ninth year of his age, deeply regretted by the 
people of his charge, who in testimony of their affection and his 
virtues erected a handsome monument to his memory. -Having 
early imbibed the genuine spirit of Christianity, he uniformly ex- 
hibited the evidence of it in his life. He was an able and faithful 
minister, of distinguished learning, penetration, and prudence, of 
uncommon suavity of temper and the most engaging manners. He 
published a sermon at the ordination of the reverend Thomas Al- 
ien of Pittsfield, 1754, and a sermon on the death of the reverend 
John Hunt of Boston, 1776, both of which sermons furnish honor- 
able testimofty of his piety and talents. 



HOP. 351 

HOPKINS (Edward), governor of Connecticut^ and a benefac- 
tor of Harvard college, was an eminent meiciiunt in London, and ar*-' 
rived at Boston with the reverend Mr. Davenport in the sumnicr of 
1637. He soon removed to Connecticut, choosing; rather to estab- 
lish himself at Hartford, than to join Mr. Davenport and Mr. Katon^ 
whose daughter in law he married, at New Haven. He was chos- 
en a magistrate in 1639, and governor of Connecticut repeatedly 
between the years 1640 and 1654. He afterwards went to Eng- 
land, where he was chosen warden of the English fleet, commission- 
er of the admiralty and navy, and a member of parliament. He 
died in London in March 1657, in the fifty eighth year of his age. 
He was a wise and upright magistrate, and a uian of exemplary pi- 
ety and extensive charity. He bequeathed most of his estate in 
New England, estimated at about a thousand pounds sterling, to 
trustees in Connecticut for the support of grammar schools in N-ew 
Haven and Hartford ; and live hundred pounds out of his estate in 
England for promoting the kingdom of the Lord Jesus, which do- 
nation was considered as made to Harvard college and the gram- 
mar school in Cambridge, and by virtue of a decree in chancery 
was paid in 1710. Witli this money real estate was purchased in a 
township of Massachusetts, named Hopkinton, in honor of the do- 
nor, and the legislature of the state has made such addition to the 
fund, that six bachelors may now reside at Harvard college, and 
aeven boys at the grammar school. — Magnalia-, ii. 22 — 25 ; Hutch^ 
znsow, i. 82, 101; TrumbuWa Connect, i. 241; Holmes' annala., i. 
371 ; Douglass^ n^ 160. 

HOPKINS (Samuki,),, minister of West Springfield, Massa- 
chusetts, was graduated at Yale college in 1718, and was ordained 
in 1720. He died in 1755, much beloved and esteemed. He pub- 
lished historical memoirs relating to the Housatunnuk Indians, or 
an account of the methods used for the propagation of the gospel 
among that heathenish tribe under the ministry of the reverend 
John Sergeant, with the character of that worthy missionary, and 
an address to the people of this country &c. 4to, 1753. — Breck's 
century sermon. 

HOPKINS (Samuel, D.D.), an etninent divine, from whom the 
Christians, called Hopkinsians, derive their name, was bora in Water- 
bury, Connecticut, September 17, 1721. He lived with his parents, 
employed in the labors of agriculture, until he entered his fifteenth 
year ; and such was the purity of manners among the youth of this 
place, that he never heard from any of them a profane expression- 
After having been placed for a short time nnder the tuition of the 
reverend John Graham of Woodbury, he entered Yale college in 
September 1737, and was graduated in 1741. While a member of 
this institution he made a public profession of religion. He diligent- 
ly studied the scriptures and Avas constant in his secret devotions ; 
but he was afterwards convinced, that he diil all this without aijy true 



352 HOP. 

love to the character of God, and that as yet he wasigiiorant of that 
religion, which has its seat in the heait. It was during the remark- 
able attention to the things of a better world, excited in the college 
and town ot New Haven by the preaching of Mr. Whitefield and 
Gilbert Tennent in the year 1741, that his security was shaken. 
Such was the extraordinary zeal for religion, which was at that time 
called into action, that a number of the members of the college were 
impelled to visit their fellow students without regard to the distinc- 
tion of classes, and to speak to them of the important concerns of 
eternity. At this period David Brainerd, then a student, entered 
the room of Mr. Hopkins, and though he could draw nothing from 
him and found him completely reserved, yet he made a remark, 
which sunk into his heart. He observed, that it was impossi- 
ble for any man to be a real Christian, who was not sometimes deep- 
ly affected in contemplating the character of Christ. Mr. Hop- 
kins could not but admit, that a warm aflection for the Redeemer 
would exist in those, who had been saved by him from their sins, 
and as he was conscious of no such love to the Son of God, he be- 
came convinced, that he was destitute of the spirit of the gospel . 
The sense of his ignorance and of his sin impelled him to seek in- 
struction and supplicate mercy. At length he was enlightened 
with the knowledge of the way of salvation. The character of Je- 
sus Christ, as mediator between God and man, filled him with joy, 
to which he had before been a stranger. Still he did not indulge 
the hope, that he was a Christian. His mind was for some time 
principally occupied by the consideration of his unworthiness, help- 
lessness, and guilt. Many whole days he spent in fasting and 
prayer. 

After he was graduated in September 1741, he retired to his fa- 
ther's house, and lived a recluse for a number of months, except 
when he could hold intercourse with persons zealous in religion. 
In December he went to Northampton, Massachusetts, to pursue 
the study of divinity with Mr. Edwards, and while with him was led 
to consider the proper effects and evidences of that renovation of soul, 
which he believed to be necessary in order to receive the blessings 
of the gospel, and for the first time became satisfied that he was a 
Christian. After he was licensed to preach in May 1742, he still 
continued at Northampton, engaged in his theological studies, 
preaching occasionally, without any pecuniary compensation, in the 
neighboring towns. From December of this year till May 174S 
ho preached to a new society in Symsbury, Connecticut. In July 
he went to Houssatonnoc, now Great Barrington, Massachusetts, 
where he was ordained December 28, 1743. At this time there 
were only thirty families in the place. Here he continued till Jan- 
uary 18, 17G9, when he was dismissed by an ecclesiastical council. 
This event was occasioned by the din\inution of his society and the 
want of support. An episcopal church had Ijeen established in the 



HOP. 353 

town in order to escape the i^ for the maintenance of a minister 
of the gospel. 

Mr. Hopkins was agsdn settled in the ministry at Newport, Rhode 
Island, April 1 1, 1770. There were some circumstances attend- 
ing his establishment in this place, which were remarkable, and 
which prove, th:it the hearts of all men are in the hands of God, and 
may be turned as the rivers of water are turned. After he had 
been with this people some time, a meeting was called, and it was 
voted not to give him an invitation to settle among them. Many 
were dissatisfied with his sentiments. He accordingly made his 
preparations to leave them, and on the sabbath preached a farewell 
discourse. This sermon was so interesting and impressive, that u 
different vote was immediately and almost unanimously passed, and 
he consented to remain. For about four years he was unwearied 
in the discharge of his pastoral duties, preaching a lecture every 
week in addition to the services of the sabbath, and seizing every op- 
portunity to impart religious instruction. The Avar of the revolu- 
tion interrupted his benevolent labors. In December 1776, when 
the British took possession of Newport, he left the town, and retir- 
ed to his family, which he had before sent to Great Barrington. 
During the summer of 1777 he preached at Newburyport in a con- 
gregation, which was thought to be the largest in America. Its 
pastor, the reverend Mr. Parsons, died a short time before. He 
afterwards labored in the gospel of Jesus Christ in Canterbury and 
Stamford, Connecticut. In the spring of 1780 he returned to New- 
port, which had been evacuated by the British in the fall of the pre- 
ceding year. He found his church and congregation much dimin- 
ished. The town had been so long in the hands of the enemy, that 
many, who had removjed, had become established in other places, 
and were thus prevented from returning. The meeting house had 
been made a barrack for soldiers, and had been much injured, and 
the bell had been carried away. That portion of his former socie- 
ty, which had remained in the town, had become so impoverished, 
that he had no prospect of a maintenance. Yet such was his be- 
nevolence, that he preached to them a year supported entirely by a 
few generous friends, and when he received a pressing invitation to 
settle at Middleborough, the request of his people induced him to 
decline it. From this time till his death his maintenance was de- 
rived entirely from a weekly contribution and the donations of his 
friends. But he was contented with his humble circumstances, and 
in a situation, which would have filled most minds with the great- 
est anxiety, he cast himself upon the providence of God, and expe- 
rienced through a course of years many remarkable interpositions 
in his favor. His wants were always supplied. On the tenth of 
January 1799 a paralytic affection deprived him of the use of his 
limbs, although his mental powers Avere uninjured. But he after- 
46 



364 HOP. 

wards recovered from this attack, so as to be able to preach. He 
died Deceinber 20, 1803, in the eigh?jr third year of liis age. 

Dr. flopkins was a very humble, pious, and benevolent man. 
His views of his own character were always very abasing. He 
cherished no proud conceptions of his own excellence, but ever 
considered himself as a v«ry guilty sinner, meriting everlasting 
punishment, and subsisting entirely upon mercy. He therefwe 
walked humt)Iy with God. Knowing his own helplessness and sin,, 
and thus being impressed by a just view of the state of a depraved 
world, he admired the plan of redemption, which brought pardon 
to the guilty, and salvation to the lost. His only hope was in the 
infinite merit and worthiness of Jesus Christ. It was his constant 
prayer, " God be merciful to me, a sinner 1" This humility per- 
vaded his whole conduct. It preserved him from that overbearing 
zeal, which is the offspring of self confidence and pride. In his 
intercom'se with persons of sentiments different from his own, 
he exhibited the greatest mildness and camlor. As truth was his ob- 
ject, and he never disputed for victory, he sometimes carried convic- 
tion to an opponent by the force of his arguments. While he made 
it his constant care to watch against the intrusion of sinful thoughts, 
and while he found his highest pleasures in the moments of retire- 
ment from the world, when he could meditate upon the sublime and 
cheering truths of heaven and could express the desires of his soul 
to God, he also was careful to bring forth in his life the fruits of 
righteousness. He sympathised in the distresses of others. He 
took delight in relieving the Avants of the poor. Though he had 
but little to bestow, yet many were gladdened by his liberality. On 
one occasion he contributed a hundred dollars for promoting the 
gospel among the Africans. After a useful and holy life, at the 
approacn of death he enjoyed the peace of the upright. 

Dr. Hopkins was a distinguished divine. His mind was discern- 
ing, and his application was almost unequalled. He sometimes de- 
voted to his studies eighteen hours in a day. With respect to his 
views of divine truth, he embraced the Calvinistic doctrines ; and it 
is principally by the consequences, which he drew from these doc- 
i.rines, that his name has been rendered famous. He fully admit- 
ted the Calvinistic doctrine of the entire depravity of the human 
heart and the sinfulness of all the doings of the unregenerate ; but 
his discerning mind perceived the discordance between this doc- 
trine and the preaching of some of the Calvinistic divines, wha 
exhorted the unregenerate as such to perform certain acts as the 
appointed way to obtain that grace, which should renew their heaits 
and make them holy. If men before conversion could do nothing, 
that was pleasing t& God, he concluded they could do nothing to 
I)rocure the influences of the Holy Spirit. Instead therefore of ex- 
horting sinners to use the means of grace in order to obtain the di- 
vine assistance to enable them to repcjit, when it was acknowledged 



HOP. 355 

.that in the use of the means of grace they would be entirely sinful, 
he thought it a sacred duty, encumbent on the ministers of the gos- 
pel, to imitate the preaching of the Lord Jesus, their Master, and 
to call upon men immediately to repent and yield themselves to the 
love of God. He thought that religious advantages, if in the use 
of them the unregenerate were not converted, would but increase 
guilt, as in tniscase there would be a greater resistance to the truth. 
Another sentiment, which is considered as one of the peculiar sen- 
timents of Dr. Hopkins, is that the inability of sinners is moral and 
Jiot natural ; but this is only saying, that their inability consists 
in disinclination of heart or opposition of will to what is good. 
Combining the Calvinistic doctrine, that God has foreordained what- 
soever comes to pass, with his views of the nature of sin as consist- 
ing entirely in the intention or disposition of the nund, be inferred, 
that it was no impeachment upon the character of the most right- 
eous Disposer of all events to say, not merely that he decreed the 
existence of sin, but that he exerted his own power to produce it. 
The design being benevolent, he contended that no more iniquity 
could be attached to this act, than to the bare permission of sin. 
This is another of his peculiarities. From his views of the nature 
of holiness, as consisting in disinterested benevolence, he also in- 
ferred, that a Christian should be willing to perish forever, to be 
forever miserable, if it should be necessary lor the glory of God 
and the good of the universe, that he should encounter this destruc- 
tion. Instead of the Calvinistic doctrine of the strict imputation of 
Adam's sin and of the righteousness of Christ, he chose rather to 
adopt the language of scripture in saying, that on account of the 
first transgression men were made or constituted sinners, and that 
men are justified -ou account of the righteousness of Christ, or 
through the I'edemption, which there is in him. 

Dr. Hopkins published three sermons, entitled, sin through divine 
interposition an advantage to the universe, and yet this no excuse 
for sin or encouragement to it, 1759, the second edition of which 
was published in Boston in 1773, and another edition about the 
same time in Edinburgh ; an inquiry concerning the promises of 
the gospel, whether any of them are made to the exercises and do- 
ings of persons in an unregenerate state, containing remarks on 
two sermons by Dr. Mayhew, 1765 ; a sermon on tlie divinity of 
Christ, preached in Boston, 1768 ; two sermons on Komans vii. 7, 
and John i. 13, 1768, republished, 1793 ; the true state and charac- 
ter of the unregenerate, stripped of all misrepresentation and dia- 
guise, being an ^iswer to the reverend Mr. Mills, 1769 ; animad- 
versions on Mr. Hart's late dialogue, 1770 ; an inquiry into the ita- 
ture of true holiness, with an appendix in answer to Drs. Ifemmen- 
way and Mather, 1773 ; of this inquiry a second edition was pub- 
lished in 179 1 ; a dialogue, shewing it to be the duty and interest 
'pfthe American states to emancipate al! their African slaves, 1776 *. 



35G HOP. 

an inquiry concerning the future state of those, who die in their sins, 
1783; a system of doctrines, contained in divine revelation, ex- 
plained and defended, to which is added a treatise on tlie miilenni- 
nni, 2 vols. 8vo, 1793 ; it is on this system of divinity, that the rep- 
utation of the author principally rests ; the life of IVIiss §usannah 
Anthony, 1796 ; the life of Mrs. Osborn, 1798; and a volume of 
sermons either a short time before or soon after his death. He left 
behind him sketches of his life Avrittcn by himself, a dialogue on 
the nature and extent of true Christian submission, and an address 
to professing Christians, all of which were published by the rev- 
erend Dr. West of Stockbridge in 1805. — Hofikins' life. 

HOPKINS (Lemuel), a poet, was born in Waterbury, Connect- 
icut, about the year 1755. After a good education at school he 
engaged in the study of physic under the direction of Dr. Potter of 
Wallingford. He commenced the practice of his profession at 
Litchfield about the year 1776. Here he acquired celebrity as a 
physician, and the singularity of his appearance, manners, and opin- 
ions attracted general notice. About the year 1784 he removed to 
Hartford, where he lived till his death in April 1801, aged fifty one 
years. Three small productions of his pen, of singular humor, arc 
inserted in the American poems, and he is the reputed projector 
of the Anarchiad, a work, which he assisted in executing.— Mbn/A- 
ly mag. and Amer. reviav, i. 468. 

HOPKINSON (Francis), district judge of the United States 
for Pennsylvania, was born in that state in 1738. He was a mem- 
ber of congress from New Jersey in 1776, in M'hich year he signed 
the declaration of independence. He held an appointnient in the 
loan office for several years, and afterwards succeeded George Ross, 
esquirc; as judge of the admiralty for the state of Pennsylvania. 
In this station he continued till the year 1790, when he was appoint- 
ed by Washington a judge of the district court. He died May 9, 
179 1. He was a person, whose stature was a little below the com- 
mon size, whose features were small, but uncommonly animated, 
and whose speech and motions indicated the activity of his mind. 
He was distinguished for his wit in conversation, but it was mild 
and elegant. He contributed not a little towards promoting the in- 
dependence of America, not however by labored discussions, but by 
his inimitable humor and satire. He began in 1775 with a small 
tract, entitled, a pretty story, in which in an allegorical manner he 
exposed the tyranny of Great Britain towards America, and he con- 
cluded his contributions to his country in this way with the history 
of the new roof, which ought to be read with interest, while the cit- 
izens of the United States are sheltered imder their present form of 
national government. His battle of tho kegs has been much admir- 
ed for its wit. A few years before his death in consequence of an 
act of the assembly for cutting down the trees of Philadelphia in or- 
der to guard against fire anil the evils of stagnant air, he wrote ahu- 



HOV. SS7 

morous speech of a standing member of the assembly against the 
act, and rescued the devoted trees from the impending destruction- 
His satires on newspaper scandal had the effect to restrain for a 
number of months the licentiousness of the press. His specimen 
of modern learning in an examination of the properties of a salt 
box is a piece of exquisite humor. His opinions on education were 
somewhat peculiar. He often ridiculed in conversation the prac- 
tice of teaching children the English language by means of gram- 
mar. He considered most of the years, which were spent in learn- 
ing Greek and Latin, as lost, and he held several of the arts and sci- 
ences, which are taught in colleges, in great contempt. To his 
poetical talents he united uncommon excellence in music, and some 
knowledge of painting. Besides the above works, he published sci- 
ence, a poem, 1762. After his death his miscellaneous essays and 
occasional writings were published in three vols. 8vo,1792. — Massa. 
magazine, iii. 750 — 753 ; Jmerica?i mu8eum,m.. 165 ; ix. 39 ; Har- 
die's biog. diet. 

HOVEY (Ivory), minister of Plymouth, Massachusetts, was 
born at TopsfieUl .Tuly 14, 1714. In the sixteenth year of his age 
he became a member of the church of Christ. He was graduated 
at Harvard college in 1735, and was ordained minister of Mctapois- 
et, the second parish of Rochester, October 29, 1740. Having de- 
voted much attention to the study of physic in consequence of his 
impaired health, he in 1744 commenced the practice, and was the 
principal physician of Metapoiset till his dismission in 1765. He 
was afterwards installed, April 18, 1770, at Monumct ponds in 
Plymouth, where he passed the remainder of his life. He died No- 
vember 4, 1803, in the ninetieth year of his age, having been able 
to continue his public labors till a few days before his death. He 
had preached about sixty five years, and during that time kept a 
journal, designed to promote his improvement in Christian excel- 
lence, which he left behind him in about seven thousand octavo pag- 
es of short hand. Extracts from it are preserved in the Piscataqua 
magazine. He Avas one of the best of men, being distinguished for 
meekness, humility, and piety. A great part of his time was spent 
in his study, and fcAV men ever wrote so many sermons, though in 
the latter periods of his life he usually preached without notes. 
He published a valedictory sermon on leaving Metapoiset, and one 
or two sermons on the subject of mortality. — Piscataqua evavg. 
mag. i. 88, 89 ; iii. 144, 185, 229 ; Massa. miss. ?nag. iii. 20 ; iv. 
302 ; Prince's Chr.hist.i 190. 

HOWARD (Simeon, d.d.), minister in Boston, was born at 
Bridgewater, Massachusetts, May 10, 1733, and was gratkiatcd at 
Harvard college in 1758. He was afterwards an instrucier of youtli 
lor several years, during which time he was preparing himself for 
the ministry. Soon after he began to preach, he was invited to the 
province of Nova Scotia, where he cfliciuied about a yeur. In 1766 



S58 HOW . 

he was elected a tutor of Harvard college ; and on the sixth of May 
1757 was ordained pastor of the west church in Boston, as succes- 
sor to Dr. Mayhew. He continued in this station till his death, Au- 
gust 13, 1804, in the seventy second year of his age and thirty 
eighth of his ministry. He was succeeded by the reverend Mr . 
Lowell. 

Dr. Howard took an early part in vindicating the liberties of his 
country. When our rights were invaded, he was strenuously op- 
posed to yielding them. He heartily engaged in promoting the 
American revolution, and participated in the joy, experienced on 
the acknowledgment of our independence. In the various relations 
of life he was faithful and exemplary. He steadily exerted himself 
to advance the intere&ts of humanity and literature, and was for 
many years one of the governors of the university. As a preacher, 
though he was not eloquent and popular, he yet was free from those 
faults, which adhere to many public speakers. There was nothing 
ofiTensive in his delivery, nothing artificial or disgusting in his tones. 
In his theological sentiments he differed from the first fathers of 
the New England churches, lor he rejected the system of Calvin. 
The creed, which he early embraced, he retained till his death. 
Towards those who differed from him, he was indulgent in his 
thoughts, and tolerant in his conduct. He never could approve of a 
sarcastic and irreverent way of speaking of objects, which any sin- 
cere believer might deem s:\cred. He was indeed so mild and gen- 
tle, that he could not express severity, which he never felt. There 
was a serenity upon his countenance, which indicated the peace, 
that constantly dwelt in his heart. He was remarkable for 
humility. While he never mentioned either his virtues or his 
faults, it was evident to all, who were intimately acquainted with him, 
that he had a humble sense of his own talents and moral attainments. 
One cause of that taciturnity, which was regretted by his friends, 
was an unwillingness to engage in the usual topics of conversation. 
He did not choose to speak of himself ; he had no ambition to wound 
the feelings of his neighbor by a smart reply or a witty sarcasm j 
his sincerity disqualified him for flattery and compliments ; he was 
too candid to be disposed to rail against the opinions of others, be- 
cause they differed from his own ; he was unwilling needlessly to 
offend by contradicting those, who were present, and he could not 
slander the absent. Such a man must often find it necessary to be 
silent. He was endeared to his people, for he interested himself in 
their welfare, and endeavored to render them virtuous and good. 
All, who knew him, were delighted with the modesty, mildness, and 
benevolence, which he exhibited. He published an artillery elec- 
tion sermon, 1773 ; a sermon on the death of his wife, 1777 ; a ser- 
mon to freemasons, 1778 ; a sermon on not being ashamed of the 
gospel, occasioned by the cljaUi of Dr. Winthrop, 1779 ; election 
sermon, 1780. — Monthly anthrAogijy i. 476 ; iii. 115 — 119; JJlerary 
miscellany.) ii. ZZ3 — 33P. 



HOW. 359 

HOWELL (Richard), governor of New Jersey, was a native of 
Delaware, and having been admitted to the bar a short time before 
the late struggle between Great Britain and America commenced, 
he devoted his talents to the service of his country. His abilities as 
a soldier procured him the appointment of the second Jersey regi- 
ment in 1776, which station he occupied till the spring of 1779, 
when in consequence of a new arrangement of the army he resum- 
ed the profession of the law. In 1788 he was appointed clerk of 
the supreme court, which office he held till June 1793, when he 
was chosen governor of the state. To this place he was eight years 
successively elected. He died April 28, 1802, aged forty seven 
years. He possessed a cultivated mind, and was benevolent in his 
life. — The balance^ i. 156. 

HUBBARD (William), minister of Ipswich, Massachusetts, 
and a historian, was born in the year 1621, and was graduated at 
Harvard college in the first class in 1642. The time of his ordi- 
nation is not known, but it is supposed to have been about the year 
165 7, as Colleague with Mr. Cobbet. In his old age Mr. John Rog- 
ers was settled with him in 1692. Mr. Hubbard died September 
14, 1704, aged eighty three years. He was a man of leaming, and 
of a candid, benevolent mind. Such was his attachment to the ec- 
clesiastical order, established by the fathers of New England, that 
when the church in Brattle Street, Boston, was founded on new and 
less strict principles, he expressed his indignant feelings at the in- 
novation. His son, Nathaniel Hubbard, esquire, was a member of 
the council, and one of the justices of the sujicrior court. 

Mr. Hubbard wrote a valuable history of New England, which is 
still in manuscript. It is a manuscript in folio of more than three 
hundred pages, after the plan of Winthrop's journal. It was used 
by Mather in writing his magnalia, by Hutchinson, and of late by 
the reverend Dr. Holmes. He p'^blished an election sermon, en- 
titled, the happiness of a people in the -wisdom of their rulers direct- 
ing and in the obedience of their brethren attending imto what Is- 
rael ought to do, 1676 ; the present state of New England, being a 
narrative of the troubles with the Indians from the first planting 
thereof in 1607 to 1677, but chiefly of the two last years 1675 and 
1676, to which is added a discourse about the war with the Pc- 
quots, 4to, 1 677 ; a fast sermon, 1 682 ; a funeral discourse on ma- 
jor general Denison, 1684 ; a testimony to the order of the gospel in 
the churches of New England, with Mr. Higginson, 1701. — Hutch'- 
inson, ii. 147 ; Holmes^ annaU, ii. 64 ; Collect, hist. soc. vii. 253 ; x 
32—35. 

HUDSON (Henry), an eminent navigator, was an Englishman, 
who explored a part of the coast of Greenland in the years 1607 and 
1608, while seeking a passage to Japan and China. After his re- 
turn to England from his second voyage, he went over to Holland, 
and the Dutch East India company gave him the command of a 



360 HUN. 

ship for discovery. He sailed March 25, 1609, and after passing ^ 
alonj; the coast of Laphind, he crossed the Atlantic, and discovered ^ 
cape Cod, at which place he landed. He then pursued his course 
to the Chesapeake, and on his return along the coast entered the 
river in the state of New York, which bears his name, and ascended 
in September as far as where the city of Albany now stands. A set- 
tlement was soon after made upon this river by the Dutch. In 1 6 lOjhe 
was again fitted out by some gentleman to discover a passage to the 
south sea, and in this voyage he discovered the extensive bay to the 
north, which bears his name. He drew his ship into a small creek 
on the third of November, and it was frozen up during the winter. 
Uncommon flights of wild fowl furnished provision, without which 
supply the crew must have perished. In the spring of 1611 
he made several efforts to complete his discoveries, but was 
obliged to abandon his cnterprize and make the best of his 
way home. He distributed to his men with tears in his eyes all the 
bread, he had left, which was only a pound to each ; though it is said, 
that other provisions were afterward found in the ship. In his un- 
easiness and despair, he let fall threatening words of setting some 
of his men on shore ; upon which a few of the sturdiest, who had 
been very mutinous, entered his cabin in the night, tied his arms 
behind him, and set him adrift in the shallop at the west end of the 
straits with his son and seven of the most sick and infirm of his 
men. He never was heard of again. The crew proceeded with 
the ship for England. Four of them were killed by the savages, as 
they went on shore near the strait's mouth, and the rest, ready to 
die for want, arrived at Plymouth in September 1611. He publish- 
ed divers voyages and northern discoveries, 1607 ; a second voyage - 
for findinga passage to the East Indies by the north east, 1608. Ac- 
counts of his other voyages were published ; but they were not written 
by himself. Some of them are preserved in the third volume of Pur- 
chas' pilgrims. — Bdkna/i's American biogra/i/ty., i. 394 — 407 ; .Vew 
and gen. biog. did. ; Hardie ; Holmes^ annals.^ i. 167 ; Forster's 
voyagest 332, 421. 

HUNTINGTON (Joseph, d. d.), minister of Coventry, Con- 
necticut, was graduated at Yale college in 1762, and died in the year 
1795. He is well known as the author of a work, entitled, Calvin- 
ism improved, or the gospel illustrated as a system of real grace, 
issuing in the salvation of all men, which was published after his 
death, in 1796. In it the author contends, that our sins are trans- 
ferred to Christ, and his righteousness to us, that he was a true and 
proper substitute for all mankind, and has procured unconditional 
salvation for every individual. It was answered in the same year 
by the reverend Dr. Strong in a work, which bears the title of the 
doctrine of eternal misery rcconcilcable with the infinite benevo- 
lence of God. Dr. Huntington puWislied a sermon on the vanity 
an<l mischief of presuming on things beyond our measure, 1774 ; 



tiUN. 561 

a plea beforeJ:he ecclesiastical council at Stockb^ridge in the cause' 
of Mrs. Fiiik, who was excopaimiriicatcd for marrying a profane 
and immoral man, delivcd October 1779 ; un address to his anabap- 
tist brethren, 1783, 

HUNTINGTON (Samuki.), governor of Connecticut, waii 
born in Windham and descended Irom an ancient fatnily. In hi;; 
youth he gave indications of an excellent understanding. With- 
out the advantages of a coUegial education he acquired a compe- 
tent knowledge of the law, and was early admitted to the bar ; soon 
after which he settled in Norwich, and in a few years became emi-' 
nent in his profession. In 1764 he was a representative in the 
general assembly, and the following year was appointed king's 
attorney, which office he filled with reputation, until more import- 
ant services induced him to relinquish it. In 177'i he was made 
an assistant judge of the superior cotjrt. In 1775 he was elected 
into the council, and in the same year chosen a delegate to congress. 
In 1779 he was president of that honorable body, and Avas rechoseri 
the following year. After this year he resumed his seat in UUz 
council of Connecticut and on the bench. In 17S3 he was again a 
member of congress. In 1784 he was chosen lieutenant govcrnoi' 
and appointed chief justice. He was placed in the chair of the 
chief magistrate in 1786, and was annually reelected till his death. 
He died at Norwich January 8, 1796 in the sixty fourth year of his 
age.— ^Columbian centiiiel, Jan. 20, 1796 ; Strong's fun. sermon. 

HUTCHINS (Thomas), geographer general of the United 
States, was born in Monmouth county. New Jersey. His parents 
died when he was young, and possessing an unconquerable diffi- 
dence and modesty, he neglected to seek the assistance of some 
friends, which he had in New York. Before he was sixteen years 
of age he went to the western country, and was soon appointed 
ensign in the army and then paymaster. He distinguished himself 
at fort Pitt, the plan of which he laid out, and which was executed 
by him under general Bouquet. He afterwards lived several years 
in Louisiana, and was engaged in a variety of battles with the In- 
dians while with the army in West Florida. He here obtained a 
captain's commission in the British army ; but being much attached 
to America, he found it necessary to relinquish it. He was in Lon- 
don at the commencement of the war in 1775 and his zeal in the 
cause of his country induced him to refuse some excellent offer'j, 
which were made him in England. Being suspected in 1775 of 
holding a correspondence v/itli Franklin, then in France, he was 
thrown into a dungeon, and lost twelve thousand pounds in one day. 
In this dark and loathsome place he was kept six weeks. He was 
then examined and liberated. After tins he went to France and 
sailed thence to Charleston, where he joined the army under gen- 
eral Greene. It was not long before he was appointed geographer 
general of the United States. He died at Pittsburgh April 28, 
47 



362 HUT. 

1789. He was esteemed and beloved, being remarkable for piety, 
charity, and benevolence. Under the vicissitudes of life he was 
patient and resigned to the divine will. The reverend Dr. Morse 
was much indebted to him in the compilation of his American gaz- 
etteer. 

He published an historical account of Bouquet's expedition 
against the Ohio Indians in 1764, with military papers, a map and 
plates, 1765 ; a topographical description of Virginia, Pennsylva- 
nia, Marylund, North Carolina, 8cc. with maps, London 1778 ; and 
an historical narrative and topographical description of Louisiana 
and West Florida, Philadelphia 1784. — Amer. museum, vii. 212, 
213 ; Gazette ofV. S. May 23, 1789 ; Bardie's biog. diet. ; Massa. 
inag. iii. 422. 

HUTCHINSON (Ann), an artful woman, who occasioned much 
difficulty in New England soon after its first settlement, came from 
Lincolnshire to Boston in 1636. She was an admirer of Mr. Cot- 
ton. The members of his church used to meet every week to 
repeat his sermons, and discourse on doctrines. Mrs. Hutchinson 
set up meetings for women, and she soon had a numerous audi- 
ence. After repealing the sermons of Mr. Cotton, she added 
reflections of her own ; she advocated erroneous sentiments, and 
warped the discourses of her minister to coincide with her own 
opinions. She asserted that believers are personally united with 
the Spirit of God ; that commands to work out salvation belong 
only to such as are under a covenant of works ; that sanctification is 
not a sufficient evidence of a good state ; and she pretended to im- 
mediate revelation respecting future events. She soon threw the 
whole colony into a flame. Those, who opposed her, were said to 
be in fa"or of a covenant of works, and those, who supported her, 
were said to be vindicating a covenant of grace. The progress of 
her sentiments occasioned the synod of 1637, the first synod in 
America. This convention of ministers condemned eighty two 
erroneous opinions, then propagated in the country. Mrs. Hutch- 
inson, after this sentence of her opinions, was herself called before 
the court in November of the same year, and being convicted of 
traducing the ministers, and advancing errors, was banished the col- 
ony. Her trial is published in the appendix of the second volume 
of Hutchinson. She discovers art, spirit, and talents. The church 
in Boston excommunicated her for many evils in her conversation 
as well as for corrupt opinions. She went with her husband to 
Rhode Island. In the year 1642 after her husband's death she re- 
moved into the Dutch country beyond New Haven, and the next 
year she and all her family, consisting of sixteen persons, were 
killed by the Indians, excepting one daughter, whom they carried 
into captivity. — Collect, hist. soc.vW. 16, 17 ; ix, 28, 29 ; Morton^ 
115 ; Hutchimon., i. 55 — 57, 66, 70 — 73 ; Mai, i. 183, 192 — 194 ; 
Magnolia, vii. 17 — 20; Winthro/iy 137—140; Holmes* annals, i- 
298; T. Weld's short story. 



HUT. 363 

HUTCHINSON (Thomas), {governor of Massachusetts, was a 
native of Boston, and was graduated at Harvard college in 1727. 
His abilities were not great, yet by exact temperance and indefati- 
gable industry, united with that discretion, which can accommodate 
itself to circumstances, he rose to the highest offices. Though 
bred a merchant, he acquired a knowledge of the common law of 
England, and studied the principles of the British constitution. He 
succeeded Mr. Sewall as chief justice of Massachusetts in 1761, 
and was lieutenant governor from 1758 to 1770. He held at the 
same time these two offices, and that of counsellor and judge of 
probate for the county of Suffolk. Paying a profound respect to 
the religious institutions of his country, and preserving a gravity of 
deportment, while he condescended to all classes of citizens, he 
acquired a high degree of public confidence. He was the slave of 
ambition, and his discernment pointed out to him the way of pre- 
ferment among a religious and sober people. Still however there 
were some, who knew his character, and he had lost some of his 
popularity by promoting the writs of assistance, which Mr. Otis 
opposed with such force of argument, and by advocating rather the 
prerogatives of the crown, than the rights of the people. He was 
also suspected of having forwarded the stamp act by letters written 
upon the occasion. After the arrival of the stamps, a mob in Bos- 
ton assaulted his house August 26, 1765, and having forced him to 
retire, out of regard to his personal safety, either destroyed or car- 
ried off his plate, his family pictures, most of the furniture, the 
wearing apparel, about nine hundred pounds sterling in money, and 
the manuscripts and books, which he had been thirty years collect- 
ing. This outrage was discountenanced the next day by the town 
of Boston ; but the suspicions against the lieutenant governor were 
never eradicated. When Bernard returned to England in August 
1769, Hutchinson became commander in chief, and at the close of 
the year was appointed governor. He now began to unmask, ex- 
plicitly avowed his independence of the people, and informed the 
legislature, that his majesty had made ample provision for his sup- 
port without their aid. They immediately called upon him to re- 
linquish the unconstitutional stipend, and to accept such a salary, as 
should be given him by the general assembly. He replied, that 
this would be a breach of his instructions from the king. The com- 
mand of his sovereign was his constant apology for every arbitrary 
step. He had been the means of bringing the regular troops to 
Boston in 1768 to overawe the people and to enforce th« tyrannical 
laws of parliament, and he was inflexible in his determination to 
retain them, notwithstanding every argument, which was used for 
their removal. He said in one of his letters to England, " five or 
six men of war, and three or four regiments disturb nobody, but 
some of our grave people, who do not love assemblies and concerts, 
Mid cannot bear the noise of drums upon a Sunday," He also de- 



364 IRV, 

dared, that he slept in more tranquillity after the ai'iivul ol the 
troops. In the year 1772 a number of liis letters, written to tht- 
members t>f the British cabinet, were obtained by Dr. Franklin and 
sent to Massachusetts. They disclosed his whole character at once, 
and proved him the secret enemy of his country, who stimulated 
the ministry to enforce their plans, and who even declared to them, 
that " there must be an abridgment of English liberties in colonial 
?djninistration.'' Immediately after this detection of his treachery, 
the general court passed some severe resolves, voted an impeach- 
ment, and requested, that his majesty would remove him from of- 
fice forever. But as soon as he was informed of the dctprmined 
measures, which they were adopting, he dissolved the assembly. 
]He became at length so very obnoxious to the province, that he was 
superseded by governor Gage in May 1774. He sailed for Eng- 
land on the first of June, and before his departure a f&w partizans 
sent him an address, thanking him for his services. Tiiese men 
>vere long distinguished by the appellation of Hutchinson's ad- 
dressers. ILjs impeachment was without effect ; and the lords of 
the privy council made a report highly in his favor. But he soorv 
experienced the neglect of those, to the promotion of whose plans 
he had saci'ificed his reputation fov integrity, and to whom he had 
been ready to yield the rights of his country. Becoming an object 
of disgust with all parties lie lived many months in a state of cha- 
grin and despondence, and died at Brampton in the beginning of 
June 1780, aged sixty nine years. 

Governor Hutchinson published a brief state of the claim of the 
colonies, &c. 1764 ; the history of the colony of Massachusetts 
Bay from the first settlement thereof in 1628 until the year 1750, 
in 2 vol. 8vo, the first in 1760, and the second in 1767 ; and a col- 
lection of original papers relative to the history of the colony of 
Massachusetts Bay, Svo, 1769. These works are held in high esti- 
mation by those, who are searching into the history of our coun- 
try. The late judge Minot has brought down the history of Mas- 
sachusetts to the year 1765. — Warren,, i. 79 — 83, 1 1 1 — 126 ; Gor- 
don^'i. 181 ; ii. 28~3l ; Minot ii.TQ, 104, 132, 160, 187, 198— j 
216 ; Holmes' annals, ii. 272, 440. 

IRVINE (William), a brave officer in the American war, was 
a native of Ireland, and was educated for the medical profession, 
which he relinquished at the commencement of the revolution. 
He had an early command in the army, and in the expeditipn to 
Canada in 1775 was conspicuous for his talents and bravery. In the 
operations in the middle states during the remainder of the war he 
was consulted by the commander in chief, and was particularly ob- 
noxious to ).hc enemy. After the war he was a meii\her of congress 
from Pennsylvania. He died at Philadelphia July 30, 1804, aged 
sixty three years. Major general Irvine held for some time before 
^s death the office of military intendant. lie- was also president 



JOH. 365 

of the Giiicinnad of Pennsylvania. Frank and sincere, he paid 
ri^pett to none but to those, whom he deemed worthy, and those, 
lor whom he had no regard, he shunned in silence. — JYeiv York 
sjicctator, August 1, 1804 ; Freeman's jourval. 
. JOHNSON (Edward), an inhabitant of Woburn, Massachu- 
setts, was one of the military officers, who were sent to seize Gor- 
ton in 1643. He published the wonder working providence of 
Sion's Savior in New England, containing a history of New En- 
gland from 1628 to 1652, London, 4to, 1654. In this work he gives 
a description of the country, an account of the civil and ecclesiasti- 
cal affairs, with the names of the magistrates and ministers. — 
Prince's annals, ii ; Backus' abr. 55 ; IVinthropf 309. 

JOHNSON (Samuel, d. d.), first president of king's college, 
New York, was bom in Guilford, Connecticut, October 14, 1696, 
He early felt an unconquerable desire for the acquisition of knowl- 
edge, and was graduated at Yale college in 1714. In the succeed- 
ing year the ignorance and incapacity of the instructors of the 
seminary at Saybrook induced the students to abandon it. Some 
of them went to VVethersfield, where a school w as established under 
the care of Messrs. Williams and Smith ; and some of them put 
themselves under the tuition of Mr. Johnson at Guilford. In Oc-« 
tober 1716 the trustees and general court directed the college to 
be removed to New Haven, and Mr. Johnson was chosen one of the 
tutors. The first commencement in New Haven was held in Sep- 
tember 17 ir, and Mr. Andrew of Milford officiated as rector, and 
pn the same day degrees were conferred at Wethersfield. There 
was a party, who wished to have the college established in this last 
place ; but the genei'al assembly required all the scholars to repair 
to New Haven. They complied at first, but soon returned. The 
affair was settled by an agreement on the part of the assembly to 
confirm the degrees, which had been conferred at Wethersfield, and 
to build a state house in the neighboring town of Hartford at the 
public expense. Mr. Johnson continued as tutor at the college tiU 
March 20, 1720, when he was ordained the minister of West Ha- 
ven. Having an aversion to extemporary performances, it was his 
practice to use forms of prayer, and to write only one sermon in a 
month. He usually preached the discourses of others, minuting 
down only the heads, and expressing himself, when his remem- 
brance of the words of the author failed him, in language of his own. 
Having embraced the Arminian doctrines, and by close examination 
having become a convert to the episcopalian worship and church 
government, he resigned his charge at West Haven, and embat lied 
yt Boston with president Cutler for England Novembers, 17'02. 
Having received ordination as a missionary for Stratford, Connecti- 
cut, he arrived at that place il\ November 1723. His predecessor snd 
friend, Mr. Pigot, wias immediately removed to Providence. Mr. 
Johnson was nov*'' the oply episcopalian minister in Connecticutj 



366 JOH. 

and there were but a few families of the English church in the col* 
ony. They were not increased in Stratford by means of his labors, 
but in the neighboring towns, where he sometimes officiated, many 
families conformed. The desire of escaping the congregational tax 
by joining a church, whose minister recei\ ed a salary from a for- 
eign society, and the petty quarrels, which exist in most congrega- 
tions, were causes, according to Mr. flobart, of no inconsiderable 
influence in multiplying the episcopalians in Connecticut. Be- 
tween the years 1735 and 1736 JSIr. Johnson was engaged in a con- 
troversy on thelsubject of episcopacy with Mr. Dickinson, Mr. Fox- 
croft, and Mr. Graham. Entering on a new course of studies, he 
procured the works of Mr. John Hutchinson, and embraced many 
•f his sentiments. He regarded him as a person of a stupendous 
genius, little inferior even to that of sir Isaac Newton, whose prin- 
ciples he opposed ; and he thought, that in his writings he had dis- 
covered many important, ancient truths, had effectually confuted 
the Jews, infidels, Arians, and heretics of other denominations, and 
proved, that the method of redemption by Jesus Christ was better 
understood in the patriarchal and Mosaic ages, than was generally 
imagined. In 1754 he was elected president of the college, which 
had been lately instituted at New York. He went to that place in 
April and soon commenced his labors. The charter was procured 
October 31, 1754. In March 1763 he resigned, and was succeed- 
ed by the reverend Myles Cooper. He passed the remainder of 
his days in the peaceful retreat of Stratford, resuming his former 
charge, and continuing in the ministry till his death January 6, 
1772, in the seventy sixth year of his age. 

Dr. Johnson was in his person rather tall, and in the latter part 
of his I'fe considerably corpulent. While his countenance was 
majestic, there Avas also something in it, which was pleasing and 
familiar. He was happy in a calmness of temper, which was sel- 
dom discomposed. Those, who knew him, generally loved and re- 
vered him. The same good disposition, which rendered him amia* 
ble in private life, marked all his proceedings of a public nature, 
and may be discovered in his controversial writings. Benevolence 
was a conspicuous trait in his character. He seldom suffered a 
day to pass without doing to others some good offices relating to 
their temporal or spiritual aflairs. Hisconversation was enlivened 
by the natural cheerfulness of his disposition, yet in his freest dis- 
course he retained a respect to his character as a clergyman. He 
possessed a quick perception, and sound judgment, and by inces- 
sant study through a long life he became one of tlic best scholars 
and most accomplished divines, of which Connecticut can boast. 
By his acquaintance with dean Berkeley, he became a convert to the 
peculiar metapliysical opinions of that great man. His piety was 
unmingled with gloom or melancholy, and he contemplated with 
admiration and graiiiudc the wonderful plan of redemption by the 



JOH* 367 

incarnation and sufferings of the eternal Son of God. An account 
of his lite, written by the reverend Dr. Chandler, was given to the 
public in 1805. 

He published plain reasons for conforming to the church, 1733 ; 
two tracts in the controversy with Mr. Graham ; a letter from Ar- 
istocles to Authades ; a defence of it in a letter to Mr. Dickinson ; 
a system of morality, 1746, designed to check the progress of en- 
thusiasm ; a compendium of logic, 1752; a demonstration of the 
reasonablenes, usefulness, and great duty of prayer, 1761 ; a ser- 
mon on the beauties of holiness in the worship of the church of 
England ; a short vindication of the society for propagating the gos- 
pel; an English grammar and a catechism, 1765 ; a Hebrew gram- 
mar, 1767; this evinced an accurate acquaintance with that lan- 
guage, and it was reprinted with improvements in \7 7 1. •—'Chand- 
ler* s life of Johnson; xMiller, ii. 356 ; Literarij miscellany^ ii. 295— 
304 ; Beach's fun. sermon ; Holmes* annals, ii. 302 ; Monthly an- 
thology, iii. 92. 

JOHNSON (SiH Wii.M am), a major general of the militia of 
New York, and remarkable for the ascendency, which he gained 
over the Indians, was born in Ireland about the year 1714, and was 
a nephew of sir Peter Warren, the naval hero, who distinguished 
himself especially at the siege ot Louisbourg in 1745. Sir Peter, 
having married a lady in New York, was induced to purchase large 
tracts of land upon the Mohawk river and the more interior parts 
of the country, and he sent for his nephew about the year 1734 to 
come to America and take the charge of his affairs. Young John- 
son accordingly took up his residence upon a certain tract on the 
Mohawk, luid cultivated an acquaintance with the Indians. He 
learned their language ; he studied their manners, that he might 
be able to conciliate their regard ; his situation upon the river be- 
tween Albany and Oswego presented a fine opportunity for trade, 
and he carried on a large traffic with them, supplying them with 
such goods, as they needed, and receiving in return beaver and oth- 
er skins ; at length he acquired an iniluence over them, which no 
other man ever possessed. In 1755 he was entrusted with the com- 
mand of the provincial troops of New York, and marched to invest 
Crown Point, while Shirley proceeded towards Ontario agreeably to 
the plan of the campaign. General Johnson, after the defeat of a 
detachment under colonel Williams, which he had sent out, v/as at- 
tacked himself in his camp on lake George on the eighth of Sep- 
tember. But as soon as his artillery began to play, the Canadian 
militia and the Indians fled with precipitation to the swamps. The 
French troops were repulsed, and baron Dieskau, their general, was 
taken prisoner. The advantage, however, which was thus gained, 
was not pursued, and his conduct in not proceeding against Crown 
Point has been the subject of reprehension. Even the success of 
the battle has been attributed to the exertions of the brave general 



368 JOH» 

Lyman. But Johnson, who was wounded in the engagement, reap- 
ed the benefits of the repulse of Dieskau, which was magnilied into 
a splended victory. Tlie house of commons bestowed on him live 
thousand pounds sterling, and the king conferred on him the title 
of baronet. About this time also he was appointed superintendant 
of Indian affairs in New York. In the year 1759 he commanded 
the provincial troops under brigadier general Prideaux, in the expe- 
dition against Niagara. While directing the operations of the siege, 
Prideaux was killed by the bursting of a cohorn on the twentieth of 
July ; but Johnson prosecuted the plan, which had been formed, 
with judgment and vigor. On the twenty fourth the enemy made 
an attempt to raise the siege, but were defeated through the excel- 
lent dispositions and the courage of Johnson, and the next day the 
fort was taken, and about six hundred men made prisoners of war* 
This event broke off the communication, which the French intended 
to establish between Canada and Louisiana. When Amherst em- 
barked at Oswego in June 1760 to proceed on the expedition to 
Canada, sir William brought to him at that place a thousand Indians 
of the Iroquois or five nations, which was the largest number, that 
had ever been seen in arms at one time in the cause of England. 
He died at his seat at Johnson hall, about twenty four miles from 
Schenectady, on the Mohawk river, July 1 1, 1774, aged sixty years; 
He left a large sum of money to be employed in presents to the In- 
dians of the Mohawk castles, all of whom, men, women, and chil- 
dren had mourning presented them on the death of their patron. 

Sir William Johnson possessed very considerable talents as an 
orator, and his influence over the Indians was not a little owing to 
the impression made upon them by means of his elocution. His 
discernment and address were such, as enabled him to accommodate 
himself to men of very different dispositions. It has been repre- 
sented, that he was envious towards Shirley, and endeavored to 
thwart him in his plans by discouraging the Indians from joining 
him ; and that in his private conduct he paid little respect to those 
laws, the observation of which only can insure domestic peace and 
virtue. He had wives and concubines, sons and daughters of differ- 
ent colors. He was zoalous in supporting the claims of Great Brit-» 
ain, which excited such agitation in the colonies a few years before 
his death, and he exerted himself to promote the interest of the 
church of England. The following anecdote seems to evince, that 
in his dealings with the Indians, who have a good reputation for 
cunning, he was not outwitted by them. Having sent to England 
for clothes finely laced, on their arrival Hendrick, the chief of the 
Mohawks, was dazzled with their splendor, and he began to think 
how finely he should look, dressed in a similar manner. His vani- 
ty could not be resisted, and to gratify it he hit upon the following- 
expedient. He went to sir William one morning, and told him 
Tcry demurely, that in the preceding night he had dreamed, that 



JON. 369 

the baronet had generously presented him with a suit of his laced 
clothes. The solemn hint could not be mistaken or avoided, and 
the Indian monarch went aWay, pleased with his successiul ingenu- 
ity. In a few days, however, sir William accosted his majesty and 
made known his dream, which was, that Hendrick had given him 
a tract of land, containing several thousand acres. " The land is 
yours," said Hendrick, " but now, sir William, I never dream with 
you again ;'you dream too hard for me." 

Sir John Johnson succeeded his father in his title, and was ap- 
pointed major general in his place in November 1774. At the 
commencement of the war he joined the British, and about the year 
1776 persuaded the Mohawks to retire into Canada, from whence 
he repeatedly ravaged different pails of New York, and in one ex- 
pedition, in which he destroyed the very settlement, where he for- 
merly lived, he proved himself not very dissimilar in character to 
his savage companions. In 1796 he was appointed governor of 
Upper Canada. — 'Account from the reverend Dr. Eliot ; Annual reg- 
ister for 1758, 54 ; for 1759, 30—34, 122 ;Jor 1760, 58 ; /or 176,6, 
91 ; for 1774^ 195; Amertcaft ?nuseiim, \i. 482 ; Marshall, i. 385, 
395, 446 ; Wynne, ii. 44 — 52, 99 — 101 ; Collect, hist. soc. ii. 197 ; 
iv. 58 ; vii. 90 — 99, 106 — 115, 150 — 153 ; Mtnot, i. 253,287 ; 
Holmes' annals, ii. 212,234 ; Smith, 154 ; Morse's gazetteer, article 
JohnstOTjn. 

JONES (John, m. d.), one of the most eminent physicians and sur- 
geons, of whom our country can boast, was chosen in 1767 first pro- 
fessor of surgery in King's college, New York. He published about 
the year 1775 a work entitled, plain remarks on wounds and frac- 
tures, addressed to the students and young practitioners in America. 
This was particularly designed for the benefit of the surgeons in the 
army and navy of the United States, and is a monument of the pro- 
fessional skill and patriotism of its worthy author. He died at Phil- 
adelphia June 23, 1791. After his death, his pupil, James Mease, 
published his surgical works, with an account of his life, 8vo, 1795. 
—-'Ramsai/s revieiv of medicine, o6 ; Miller's retrospect, i, 319. 

JOSSELYN (John), author of New England's rarities, arrived 
in Boston in 1663, and resided in New England a number of years. 
He was bi^other to Henry Josselyn, a counsellor under the govern- 
ment of Gorges. He does not deserve much credit as a historian. 
The following is the title of his principal work ; New P2ngland's 
rarities discovered in birds, fishes, serpents, and plants of that coun- 
try ; together with the physical and chyrurgical remedies, whei-e- 
with the natives constantly use to cure their distempers, wounds, 
and sores ; also a perfect description of an Indian squaw in all her 
bravery, with a poem not improperly conferred upon her ; lastly a 
chronological table of the most remarkable passages in that country 
amongst the English ; illustrated with cuts, 1672. He published 
also an accov.nt of two voyages to New England, wherein you have 

48 



370 KAL. 

the setting out of a ship with the charges, a description of thecoun- 
tJ'jr, &c. 1674. — Sulliva?i's dist. Maine, 282 ; Iiutchi7ison, 1.267^263 j. 
Douglass, ii, 71. 

KALB (Baron ue), a major genertil in the army of the United 
States, was a German by birth, and had long been in the French 
service. In the battle near Camden, August 16, 1780, he fell after 
receiving eleven wounds in his vigorous exertions to prevent the 
defeat of the Americans. He died on the nineteenth in tlie forty 
eighth year ot his age, ha\'ini^ served three years with high reputa- 
tion. His last moments were spent in dictating a letter, which ex- 
pressed his warm affection for the men and ofhcers of his division, 
and his admiration of their firmness and courage in withstanding a 
superior force. An ornamental tree was planted at the head of hi& 
grave in the neighborhood of Camden, an(l congress resolved, that a 
monument should be erected to his memory at Annapolis with a very 
honorable inscription.— Gorrfo??, iii. 391, 443; Ramsay., ii. 168; 
PP'^urren, ii. 243 ; Marshall, i\. 184 ; Holma,' annals, ii. 433 ; jimcr- 
ican museum, vi. 319, 320. 

KEITH (Siu Wii-liam), governor of Pennsylvania, sustained 
this office from 1717 to 1726. He had been before surveyor gene- 
ral of the customs in America. He died in England November 
17, 1749, aged near eighty years. He published the history of the 
British plantations in America, part i, containing the history of Vir- 
ginia, 4to, 1738. No other part was ever published, and this is 
very concise. The author concludes with saying, in allusion to the 
college, AVhich had been established, " they will probably be mis- 
taken, who imagine, that the advancement of literature, and im- 
provement of arts and sciences in oui American colonies can ever 
be of any service to the British stSite."— 'London mag. xviri. 529. 

KENTUCKY, one of the United States of America, was form- 
erly a part of Virginia, and was well known to the Indian traders 
many years before its settlement. A map of this country was pub- 
lished by Lewis Evans in 1749. It was not till 1773, that the first 
family settled in this territory. In that year colonel Daniel Boone, 
with five other famiiics, who were joined by forty men from Pow- 
ell's valley took up their abode in the forest. During the war of 
the American revolution the infant settlement of Kentucky was re- 
peatedly ravaged and almost annihilated by the attack of liie Indians, 
stimulated to rapine and murder by emissaries from the govern- 
ment of Canada. But reinforcen^ents of emigrants, attracted by 
the fertility of the soil, enabled the inhabitants lo undertake even of- 
fensive measures. In the latter end of 1778 the brave general 
Clarke in several expeditions defeated a nuir.ber of tribes of In- 
dians, laid waste their villages, and was the means of saving the 
country from destruction. In 1777 this newly settled country was 
erected into a county,and in 1782 the legislature of Virginia made it 
a separate district, and established in it a supreme court. This mcas' 



KIL. 371 

nre conduced much to the convenience of the inhabitants and the in- 
terests of justice. Still as the scat of government was at the dis- 
tance of six hundred miles the necessity of a separation occasion- 
ed, a convention of deputies from the different counties in 1785, 
who determined that an application should be made to Viii^inia to 
procure her consent to the independence of Kentucky. This was 
generously granted. But delays arising IVom the change of the 
government of the United States and other causes prevented the 
erection of this district into a separate state till December 6, 1790, 
and its admission into the Union till June 1, 1792. A form of gov- 
ernment was adopted in this year, and the first general assembly 
met at Lexington on the fourth of June. The constitution was 
amended and established, asit now exists, by a convention at Frank- 
fort August 17, 1799. The general assembly consists of a house 
of representatives and of a senate, the members of the former to 
be chosen for one year, and of the latter for four years. The gov- 
ernor also is elected for four years, and is ineligible for the seven 
succeeding years. The judges are liable to removal on an address 
to the governor, for a reasonable cause, of two thirds of each house 
of the assembly. In 1800 the number of the inhabitants in Ken- 
tucky amounted to more than two liundred and twenty thousand.— 
Encyclofiedia^ Phil, edit.; Morse's geog. third edition^ 126 ; Hobnes' 
annals, ii. 306, 483, 486. 

KILLEN (William), chancellor of the state of Delaware, was 
a native of Ireland. Early in life, before he had attained the age of 
manhood, he arrived in America possessed of a decent property, 
and having an excellent education in the English language. Alter 
passing through a variety of scenes, incidental to sti-angcrs, he set- 
tled himself in the family of Samuel Dickinson, esquire, the father 
of John Dickinson, esquire, of Wilmington. There he devoted 
himself most assiduously to the acquisition of a competent knowl- 
edge of the Greek and Latin languages under the direction of Jacob 
Orr, who was engaged in teaching the sons of Mr. Dickinson, and 
some other young gentlemen. The dilit>ence and modesty of Mr. 
Killen made him a favorite of the whole family, and particularly of 
his instructor. His unwearied attention was rewarded by a rapid 
proficiency In his studies. Having thus become acquaint^sd w-ith 
the learned languages, and being qualified to be usefiiito his adopted 
country, his talents -were soon called into action. After holding the 
office of county surveyor for some years, iie corninenced tlie study 
of the law. In the courts of Delaware his knowledge, and espe- 
cially his skill in surveying, and in various branches of the mathe- 
matics rendered him an able assistant in suits for land, and in such 
trials the most eminent men of his day were always pleased to as- 
sociate with him as their colleague. His practice sui;ii became 
extensive. His m.oderation, his modesty, and his punctuality in 
tkiisiness, aided by his abilities, led him to v/eakli and to all the hon- 



372 KiN. 



1 



ors of his country. For many years before the revolution he was 
selected by his lellow ciiizcns to represent them in the assembly of 
Delaware. At the commencement of the contest with Great Brit- 
ain he took a decided and active part in favor of American liberty. 
Soon after the declaration of independence he w^as appointed chief 
justice of the supreme court ot the state of Delaware, which office 
he held till he was promoted to that of chancellor in 1793. He 
resigned his seat in the court of chancery in 1801, and died at Do- 
ver October 3, 1803, in the eighty fourth year of his age. In alj 
the variety of public business, in which he was engaged, he exhib- 
ited the strictest integrity. As a legislator he was wise and atten- 
tive to the interests of his constituents, and as a judge he was 
learned, patient, and impartial. The same uprightness, which 
marked his public character, was also conspicuous in all the rela- 
tions of private Wt'e.'-rAc'w York spectator^ October 22, 1803. 

KINSEY (James, ll. d.) chief justice of New Jersey, died at 
Bujiington January 4, 1802, in the seventieth year of his age. He 
had been a member of congress before the adoption of the present 
constitution. 

KIRBY (Ephraim), first jvidge of the district court of the United 
States at New Orleans, died at fort Stoddert October 20, 1804, 
He had sustained this office but a short time. 

KIRKLAND (Samuel), q distinguished missionary among the 
Indians, was the son of the reverend Mr. Kirkland of Norwich, 
Connecticut. After enjoying' for some time the advantages of 
Wheelock's school, he finished his education at the college in New 
Jersey, where he was graduated in 1765. He had before this, 
while at school, learned the language of the Mohawks, and he com- 
menced A journey to the Seneka Indians in order to acquire their 
language, November 20, 1764, and did not return till May 1766. 
On the nineteenth of June following he was ordained at Lebanon 
as missionary to the Indians. For more than forty years 
his attention was directed to the Oneida tribe in New York, and he 
died at Paris in that state, the place of his residence in the neigh- 
borhood of Oneida, March 28, 1808, in the sixty seventh year of 
his age. — Wheelock's narratives ; Panofilist, iii. 536. 

KNOX (Henry), a major general in the army of the United 
States, was born July 25, 1750. Before hostilities between this 
country and Great Britain in the revolutionary war commenced, he 
discovered an uncommon zeal in the cause of liberty. Being placed 
at the head of an independent company in Boston he exhibited in 
this station a skill in discipline, which presaged his future eminence. 
It was at the unanimous request of all the officers of artillery, that 
he was entrusted with tiie command in that department. V/hen the 
corps of artillery in 1776 was increased to three regiments, the 
command was given to Knox, who was promoted to the rank of a 
brigadier general. He was i.jiively engaged during the whole coi> 



LAI. 373 

test.' After the capture of Corn wallis in 1781, he received the 
comniission of major general, having distinguished himself in the 
siege at the head of the artillery. Previously to the adoption of 
the present constitution general Knox succeeded general Lincoln 
its secretary at war in March 1785 ; and after our present govern- 
ment was organized in 1789 president Washington nominated him 
for the same office. He continued to fill this department till the 
close of the year 1794, when he resigned it, being driven from the 
service of the public by the scantiness of the compensation allowed 
him. In his letter to the president he says, " after having served 
my country near twenty years, the greater portion of the time un- 
der your immediate auspices, it is with extreme reluctance I find 
myself constrained to withdraw from so honorable a situation. But 
the natural and powerful claims of a numerous family wiil no 
longer permit me to neglect their essential interests. In whatever 
situation I shall be, I shall recollect your confidence and kindness 
with all the fervor and purity of aftection, of which a grateful heart 
is susceptible." General Washington in reply assured him of his 
sincerest friendship, and declared him to have " deserved well of 
his country." During the last years of his life general Knox lived 
at Thomastown in the district of Maine. It was in that place, that 
he died after a short illness October 25, 1 806, aged fifty six years. 
His death was occasioned by his swallowing the bone of a chicken. 

General Knox was distinguished for his military talents, his brav- 
ery, perseverance, and integrity. He possessed in an uncommon 
degree the esteem and confidence of Washington. Though a sol- 
dier and a statesman, he did not dismiss the amiable virtues of the 
man. There was a frankness in his manners, which was pleasing, 
and his heart was susceptible of the kindly affections. — Bradford's 
sermon on his death ; Marshall's life of Washington^ iii. 62 ; iv. 495 ; 
V. 25, 213, 614; American register, i.211 ; Thatcher's eulogy ; 
Columb. centinel, Mjvember 5 and 17, and Boston Gazette, JVo-uember 
10, 1806. 

LAIDLIE (Archibald, d. d.), the first minister of the Dutch 
church in America, who officiated in the English language, Avas a 
native of Scotland, and had been four years a minister of the Dutch 
church of Flushing in Zealand, when he received a call from New 
York. He arrived in America in the year 1764, and died at Red 
Hook in the year 1778, during his exile from the city, occasioned 
by the revolutionary war. His ministry was eminently useful. He 
was a man of a vigorous mind and of singular piety ; a sound di- 
vine ; an evangelical, commanding, and powerful preacher, and in- 
defatigably faithful in his pastoral labors. His ministry was much 
blessed and attended with an uncommon revival of religion. — Christ- 
tan's magazine, \\. 13. 

LANGDON (Samuel, d. d.), minister of Portsmouth, New 
Hampshire, and president of Harvard college, was a native of Bos- 
Ion, and wc.s graduated at the university of Cambridge in 1740, 



374 LAU. 



1 



lie was ordained as the successor of the reverend Mr. Fitch of 
Portsmouth February 4, 1747, and he continued in this place till he 
was ihvitcd to the presidency ol" Harvard college. He was inducted 
into this office as the successcr ol the reverend Mr. Locke Octo- 
ber 14, 1774, but resigned it, in consequence of the disaffection of 
his pupils, occasioned by his want ot dignity and authority, August 
30, 1780. The late president Willard succeeded hini. He now entered 
again on the milder task of presiding over an assembly of Christians. 
He was installed at Hampton Falls, New Hampshire, January 18, 
1781. His extensive knowledge, hospitality, patriotism, and piety 
secured to him, in this calm retreat, the affection and respect of thia 
people of his charge, and of his numerous acquaintance. He died 
November 29, 1797, in the seventy fifth year of his age. He pub- 
lished a sermon at the ordination of Samuel Macclintock, 1756 ; a 
thanksgiving sermon on the conquest of Quebec, 1759; an im- 
partial examination of Robert Sandeman's letters on Theron and 
Aspasio, 1765 ; a summary of Christian faith and practice, 
1768 ; Dudleian lecture sermon at Cambridge, 1775 ; a ser- 
mon before the provincial congress, 1775 ; a sermon at the ordina- 
tion of the reverend Edward Sprague, Dublin, 1777 j a sermon on 
the death of professor VVinthrop, 1779 ; New Hampshire election 
sermon, 1788 ; observations on the revelations of Jesus Christ to 
saint John, 1 79 1 ; the efficacy of the gospel above all earthly wisdom, 
the business of life and hope in death, two sermons in American 
preacher, iv ; a discourse bofore the Piscataqua association 1792 ; 
corrections of some great mistakes committed by the reverend 
John Coscas Ogden ; remarks on the leading sentiments of Dr. 

Hopkins' system of doctrines, 1794. ilden^H account of the relig. 

aociclica of Portsmouth ; CollfcdoJis hint. soc. x. 5 1 . 

LAURENS (Henry), president of congress, was a native of 
South Carolina, and took an early part in opposing the arbitrary 
claims of Great Britain at the commencement of the American 
revolution. When the provincial congress of Carolina met in June 
.1775, he was appointed its president, in which capacity he drew up 
a form of association, to be signed by all the friends of liberty, 
which indicated a most determined spirit. After the establishment 
of the temporary constitution in 1776, he was elected vice presi- 
dent. Being appointed a member of the general congress, after 
the resignation of Hancock, he was appointed president of that 11- 
Juslrious assembly in November 1777. In 1780 he was deputed to 
solicit a loan from Holland and to negotiate a treaty with the United 
Netherlandr.. But on his passage he was captured by a British ves- 
sel on the banks of Newfoundland. He threw his papers over- 
board, l)ut they were recovered by «i sailor. Being sent to Eng- 
land, he wi.s committed lo the tower on the sixth of October as a 
•state prisoner upon a charge of high treason. Here he was confin- 
ed more than a year and was treated with great severity, being de- 



LAU. 375 

ftied for £he most part all intercourse with his friends, and forbidden- 
the use of pen, ink, and paper. His capture occasioned no small 
embarrassment to the ministry. They dared not to condemn him 
as a rebel through fear of retaliation, and they were unwilling to re- 
lease him, lest he should accomplish the object of his mission. The 
discoveries found in his papers led to a war with Great Britain and 
Holland, and Mr. Adams was appointed in his place to carry on the 
negotiation Avith the united provinces. During his imprisonment, 
it was intimated to Mr. Laurens, that it might be of advantage to 
him, if he could induce his son, then on a mission to France, to 
with draw from that country. He replied, that " such was the filial re- 
gard of his son, that he knew he would not hesitate to forfeit his 
life for his father ; but that no consideration would induce colonel 
Laurens to relinquish his honor, even were it possible for any cir- 
cumstance to prevail on his father to make the improper request." 
At length, in December 1781, enfeebled in health, and apparently 
sinking into the grave if continued in confinement, he sent a peti- 
tion to the house of commons for release, stating that he had labor- 
ed to preserve the friendship between Great Britain and the colonies, 
and had extended acts of kindness to British prisoners of war. At 
the close of the year he was accordingly released. He returned to 
this country, and he died in South Carolina December 8, 1792, in 
the seventieth year of his age. He directed his son to burn hia 
body on the third day as the sole condition of inheriting an estate 
of sixty thousand pounds sterling — Gordon, iii. 21, 22, 203, 283, 
322 ; iv. 5. 219 220 ; Ramsay's Amer. rev. ii. 2 13 ; his S. Carolina^ 
i. 33, 38, 93 ; Warren, i. 204 ; ii. 277 — 279, 294 — 300 ; Marshall, 
iii. 339 ; iv. 5, 572 ; Annual register for 1781, 322. 

LAURENS (John), a brave officer in the American war, was 
the son of the preceding, and was sent to England for his education. 
He joined the army in the beginning of 1777, from which time he 
was foremost in danger. He was present and distinguished him- 
self in every action of the army under general Washington, and 
was among the first, who entered the British lines at York Town. 
Early in 178 1, while he held the rank of lieutenant colonel, he wa.s 
selected as the most suitable person to depute on a special missioii 
to France to solicit a loan of money and to procure military stores. 
He ajrived in March and leturned in August, having been so suc- 
cessful in the execution of his commission, that congress passed a 
vote of thanks for his s<jrvices. Such was his dispatch, that in three 
days after he repaired to Philadelphia he finished his business with 
congress, and immediately afterward rejoined the American army. 
On the twenty seventh of August 1782, in opposing a foraging 
party of the British, near Combahee river in South Carolina, he was 
mortally wounded, and be died at the age of twenty six years. 
His father, just released from imprisonment, and happy in a son oi 
such distinction and virtues, now witnessed the desolation of all hi^ 



376 LAW. 



1 



hopes. Colonel Laurens, uniting the talents of a great officer with 
the knowledge of the scholar and the engaging manners of the 
gentleman, was the glory of the army and the idol of his country. 
Washington, who selected him as his aid, and reposed in him the 
highest confidence, declared that he could discover no fault in him 
unless it was intrepidity, bordering upon rashness. His abilities 
wei'e exhibited in the legislature and in the cabinet, as well as in 
the field. He was zealous for the rights of humanity, and, living 
in a country of slaves, contended tliat personal liberty was the 
birth right of every human being, however diversified by country, 
color, or powers of mind. His insinuating address won the hearts 
of all his acquaintance, while his sincerity and virtue secured their 
lasting esteem. — Ramsay's S. Carolina^ ii. 21, 305, 306, 306, 374; 
Gordon., iv. 23, 147, 163, 363 ; Warren., ii. 465 ; iii. 54, 55 ; 
Holmes' annals, ii. 465 ; Marshall., iii. 486, 508 ; iv. 407, 485, 575 ; 
Boston gazette, December 9, 1782. 

LAVVSON (John), surveyor general of North Carolina at the 
beginning of the last century, published a valuable work on that 
colony, entitled, a voyage to Carolina, containing the description 
and natural history of that country, and a journal of a thousand, 
miles travel among several nations of Indians, 8cc. London, 4tOj 
1709. A second edition was published in 1714. — Miller's retrosfiect, 
ii. 364. 

LAY (Benjamin), a benevolent quaker of great singularities, 
Avas a native of England and brought up to the sea. About the 
year 1710 he settled in Barbadoes. Bearing his open testimony in 
all companies against the conduct of the owners of slaves, he be- 
came so obnoxious to the inhabitants, that he left the island in dis- 
gust, and settled in Pennsylvania. He fixed his residence at Abing- 
ton, ten miles from Philadelphia. On his arrival he found many 
quakcrs, wiio kept slaves. He remonstrated against the practice 
with indiscreet zeal both in public and private. To express his 
indignation at the practice of slave keeping, he once carried a 
bladder filled with blood into a public meeting, and in the presence 
of the whole congregation thrust a sword into it, which he had 
concealed under his coat, exclaiming, " thus shall God shed the 
blood of those persons, who enslave their fellow creatures." Call- 
ing upon a friend in Philadelphia, he was asked to sit down to break- 
fast. He first inquired, " dost thou keep slaves in thy house ?" On 
being answered in the affirmative, he said, " then I will not partake 
with tlicc of the fruits of thy unrighteousness." After an ineffi^c- 
tual attempt to convince a farmer and his wife in Chester county of 
the iniquity of keeping slaves, he seized their only child, a little 
girl of three years of age, under the pretence of carrying her 
away, and when the cries of the child, and his singular expedient 
alarmed them, he said, "you see and feel now a little of the distress, 
which you occasion by the inhuman practice of slave keeping." In 



LAY. 377 

\757 he wrote a treatise, entitled, all slave keepers, that keep the in- 
nocent in bondage, apostates. It was printed by Dr. Franklin, who told 
the author, when the manuscript was brought to him, that it was defi- 
cient in arrangement. " It is no matter," said Mr. Lay, "print any part 
thoupleasest first,*' This worthy quaker died at his house in Abing- 
ton in 1760, in the eightieth year of his age. He was temperate in his 
diet, living chiefly upon vegetables, and his drink was pure water. 
He was opposed to every species of extravagance. When tea was 
introduced into Pennsylvania, his wife brought home a small quan- 
tity with a set of cups and saucers. In his zeal he seized them, and 
carrying them back to the city, he scattered the tea from the balco- 
ny of the court house, in the presence of a multitude of spectators, 
aivl broke to pieces the instruments of luxury, delivering at the 
same time a striking lecture upon the folly of introducing a perni- 
cious herb in the place of the v/holesome diet of the country- He 
often visited schools, carrying a basket of religious books with him, 
and distributing them as prizes among the scholars, imparling also 
frequently some advice and instruction. So much was he the en- 
emy of idleness, that when the inclemency of the weather confin- 
ed him to his house, or his mind was wearied with reading, he used 
to spend his time in spinning. All his clothes were manufactured 
by himself. Though kind to the poor, he had no pity on common 
beggars, who, he said, if able to go abroad to beg, were able to earn 
four pence a day, and this sum was sufficient to keep any person 
above want or dependence in this country. So fond was he of re- 
tirement for reading and meditation, that in a print of him he is rep- 
resented as reading in the mouth of a cave. He once attempted to 
imitate our Savior by fasting forty days ; but he was obliged to de- 
sist from the attempt. Such was Benjamin Lay. His weakness- 
es and eccentricities disappear before the splendor of his human- 
ity and benevolence. His bold, determined, and uniform repre- 
hension of the practice of slavery, in defiance of public opinion, 
does him the highest honor. The turbulence and severity of his 
temper were necessary at the time, in which he lived; and the work, 
which he began, was completed by the meek and gentle Anthony 

Benezet.-— //arcfze's biogra/i/iical diet, ; Massa. mag. iv. 28 30. 

LEAMING (Jeremiah, d.d.), an episcopal minister, was born 
in Middletown, Connecticut, in 1719, and was graduated at Yale 
college in 1745. He preached in Newport, Rhode Island, eight 
years ; at Norwalk, Connecticut, twenty one years ; and at Stratford 
eight or nine years. His death took place at New Haven in Sep- 
tember 1804, in the eighty seventh year of his age. In the epis- 
copal controversy, which for many years agitated New England, 
and in which he took a part, he wrote with great ability upon the 
subject. He published a defence of the episcopal government of 
the church, containing remarks on some noted sermons on presby- 
terian ordination, 1766 ; a second defence of the episcopal govern- 

49 



T 



378 LED. 



ment of tho church m answer to Noah Welles, 1770; evidence* 
of the truth of Christianity, 1785; dissertations on various sub- 
jects, which may be well worth the attention of every Christian, 
1789. 

LED YARD (John), a distinguished travellery was a native of 
(proton in Connecticut. His father died, while he was yet a child, 
und he was left under tlie care of a relative in Hartford. Here he 
enjoyed the advantages of a grammar school. After the death of 
his patron, when he was eighteen- years of age, he was left to follow 
his own inclinations. With a view to the study of divinity he now 
passed a short time in Dartmouth college in New Hampshire, where 
he had an opportunity of learning the manners of the Indians, a^ 
there was a number of Indii'.n pupils in the seminary. His acquaint- 
ance with the savage character, gained in this place, was of no little 
advantage to him in the future periods of his life. His poverty 
obliging him to withdraw from the college before he had completed, 
his education, and not having a shilling in his pocket to defray tne 
expense of a journey to Hartford, he built him a canoe, fifty feet in 
length and three in breadth, and being generously supplied with 
some dried venison for his sea stores he embarked upon the Con- 
necticut, and going down that river, which is in many places rapid, 
and with which he was totally unacquainted, he arrived safely at 
Hartford at the distance of one hundred »nd forty miles. He soon 
went to New York, and sailed for London in 177 1 as a common 
sailor. When captain Cook sailed on his third voyage of discov- 
ery, Ledyard, who felt an irresistible desire to explore those re- 
gions of the globe, which were yet undiscovered, or imperfectly 
known, accepted the humble station of corporal of marines, rather 
than forego an opportunity so inviting to his inquisitive and adven- 
turous spirit. He was a favorite of the illustrious navigator, and 
was one of the witnesses of his tragical end in 1778. He surprised 
his friends in America, who had heard nothing of him for ten years, 
by a visit in 17fi 1 . ' Having offered his services to several merchants 
to conduct a trading voyage to the north west coast, and meeting 
■with no encouragement, he again embarked for England in 1782, He 
now I'esolved to traverse the continent of America from the north 
west coast, which Cook had partly explored, to the eastern coast, 
with which he was already perfectly familiar. Disappointed in 
his intention of sailing on a voyage of commercial adventure t© 
Nootka sound, he crossed the British channel to Ostend with only 
ten guineas in his purse ; determined to travel over land to Kam- 
schatka, whence the passage is short to the western coast of A- 
merica. When he came to the gulf of Bothnia, he attempted t© 
cross the ice, that he might reach Kamschatka by the shortest way ; 
but finding that the water was not frozen in the middle, he return- 
ed to Stockholm. He then travelled northward into the arctic cir- 
dny and passing round the head of the gulfr descended on it9 eastr 



LED. 0T9 

ciii side to Petersburgh. There his extraordinary appearance at- 
tracted general notice. Without stockings or shoes, and too poor 
to provide himselt with either, he was invited to dine with the Por- 
tuguese ambassador, who supplied him with twenty guineas on the 
credit of sir Joseph Banks. I'hrough his interest he also obtained 
permission to accompany a detachment of stores, which was to be 
sent to Yakutz'for the use of Mr. BiUings, an Englishman, who was 
^entrusted with the schemes of nortliern discovery, in which the env 
press was then engaged. From Yakutz, wnich is situated in Sibe- 
ria, six thousand miles east of Petersburgh, he proceeded to Ocza- 
kow, or Ochotsk,onthe Kamschatkan sea ; but as the navigation was 
completely obstructed by the ice, he returned to Yakutz, intending to 
wait for the conclusion of the winter. Here in consequence of 
some unaccountable suspicion he was seized in the name of tlie em- 
jjress by two Russian soldiers, who conveyed him, in the depth of 
winter, through the north of Tartary to the frontier of the Polish 
Tdominions ; assuring him at their departure, that if he returned to 
Russia, he should certainly be hanged, but if he chose to return to 
England, they wished him a pleasant journey. Poor, forlorn, and 
friendless, covered with rags, and exhausted by fatigue, disease, 
and misery, he proceeded to Koningsberg, where the interest of sir 
Joseph Banks enabled him to procure the sum of five guineas, by 
jneans of which he arrived in England. 

He immediately waited on sir Joseph, who recommended him to 
an adventure as perilous as that, from which he had just returned. 
He now was informed of the views of the association, which had 
been lately for^ned for .promoting the discovery of the interior 
parts of Africa, which were then little known. Sparrman, Pater- 
^son, and Vaillant had travelled into Caffraria, and Norden and Bruce 
had enlarged the acquaintance of Europeans with Egypt, Nubia, 
and Abyssinia. In regard to other parts of this quarter of the 
globe, its geography, excepting in relation to its coasts, was involved 
in darkness. Ledyard engaged with enthusiasm in an enterprise, 
■which he had already projected for himstclf ; and receiving from 
sir Joseph a letter -of introduction to one of the members of the 
committee appointed to direct the business and promote the object 
of the association, he went to him without delay. The description, 
which that gentleman has given of his first interview, strongly 
marks the character of this haixiy traveller. " Before I had learned,'* 
says he, " from the note the name and business of ray visitor, I 
was struck with the manliness of his person, the breadth of his 
chest, the openness of his countenance, and the inquietude of his 
eye. I spread the map of Africa before him, and tracing a line 
from Cairo to Semiaar, and from thence westward in the latitude and 
supposed direction of the Niger, I told him that was the route, by 
which I was anxious, that Africa might, if possible, be^xplored. 
• Me said, he should tl'ink himself singular! v fortunate to be entrusted 



380 LED. 

■with the adventure. I asked him wh6n he would set out i To- 
morrow morning was his answer." 

From such zeal, decision, and intrepidity the society naturall) 
formed the most sanguine expectations. He sailed from London 
June 30, 1788, and in thirty six days, seven of which were spent 
in Paris, and two at Marseilles, arrived in the city of Alexandria ; 
and having there assumed the dress of an Egyptian traveller pro- 
ceeded to Cairo, which he reached on the nineteenth of August. 
He travelled with peculiar advantages. Endowed with an original 
and comprehensive genius he heheld with interest, and described 
with energy the scenes and objects around him ; and by comparing 
them with what he had seen in other regions of the globe he was 
enabled to give his narrative all the varied efl'cci of contrast and 
resemblance. His remarks on Lower Egypt, had that country 
been less generally known, might have ranked with the most valu- 
able of geographical records. They greatly heightened the opin- 
ion, which his employers already entertained of his singular quali- 
fications for the task, which he had undertaken. Nor was his resi- 
dence at Cairo altogether useless to the association. By visiting 
the slave markets, and by conversing with the Jelabs, or travelling 
merchants of the caravans, he obtained without any expense abetter 
idea of the people of Africa, of its trade, of the position of places, 
the nature of the country, and the manner of travelling, than ho 
could by any other means have acquired ; and the communications 
on these subjects, which he transmitted to England, interesting and 
instructive as they were, afforded the society the most gratifying 
proofs of the ardent spirit of inquiry, the unwearied attention, the 
persevering research, and the laborious, indefatigable, anxious zeal, 
%vith which their author pursued the object of his mission. 

He had announced to his employers, that he had received letters 
of earnest recommendation from the Aga ; that the day of his de- 
parture was appointed ; that his next despatch would be dated from 
Sennaar ; and the committee expected with impatience the result 
of his journey. But that journey was never to be performed. The 
vexation, occasioned by repeated delays in the departure of the 
caravan, brought on a bilious complaint, which, being increased at 
first by incautious treatment, baffled the skill of the most approved 
physicians of Cairo, and terminated his earthly existence .January 
17, 1789. 

The society heard with deep concern of the death of a man, 
•whose high sense of honor, magnanimous contempt of f'inger, and 
earnest zeal for the extension of knowledge had been j conspicu- 
ously displayed in their service ; whose ardor, t' • cred by calm 
deliberation, whose daring spirit, seconded by ; most prudent 
caution, and whose impatience of control, imitt.. . tJi the power of 
supportiijjg any fatigue, seemed to have qualified him above all other 
men for the very arduous task of traversing the widest and most 



LEE. 381 

dangerous part of the continent of Africa. Despising the acci- 
dental distinctions of society, he seemed to regard no man as his 
superior ; but his manners, though unpolished, were not disagreea- 
ble. His uncultivated genius was peculiar and capacious. The 
hardships, to which he submitted in the prosecution of his enter- 
prises and in the indulgence of his curiosity, are almost incredible. 
He was sometimes glad to receive food as in charity to a madman, 
for that character he had been obliged to assume in order to avoid 
a heavier calamity. His judgment of the leiuale character is very 
honorable to the sex. " I have always remarked," said he, " that 
women in all countries are civil and obliging, tender and humane ; 
that they are ever inclined to be gay and cheerful, timorous and 
modest ; and that they do not hesitate, like men, to perform a gen- 
erous action. Not haughty, not arrogant, not supercilious, they are 
full of courtesy, and fond of society ; more liable in general to err 
than man, but in general also more virtuous, and performing more 
good actions, than he. To a woman, whether civilized or savage, I 
never addressed myself in the language of decency and friend- 
ship, without receiving a decent and friendly answer. With man 
it has often been otherwise. In wandering over the barren plains 
of inhospitable Denmark, through honest Sweden and frozen Lap- 
land, rude and churlish Finland, unprincipled Russia, and the Avide 
spread regions of the wandering Tartar ; if hungry, dry, cold, wet, 
or sick, the women have ever been friendly to me, and uniformly 
so. And to add to this virtue, so worthy the appellation of benev- 
olence, their actions have been performed in so free and kind a man- 
ner, that if I was dry, I drank the sweetest draught, and if hungry, 
I eat the coarsest morsel with a double relish." 

Besides his communications to the African association, Mr. Led- 
yard published an account of Cook's voyage in 1781. A number of 
his manuscripts were a few years ago in the hands of his brother, 
Dr. Isaac Ledyard, health officer of the city of New York. — Ediri' 
burgh encyclofi. edit. 1808, 196, 197; Proceed, of African assoc.for 
1790, 40 ; Brissot, nouv. voy. ii. 405—410 ; Hardie's hiog. dictiona~ 
ry ; Encyclofi. sujifilement ., Phil. edit. ; Universal asylum., i. 393 — 
395; Massa.mag. iv. 94, 95 ; Gazette U. S. October 9^ 1790. 

LEE (Samuel), first minister of Bristol, Rhode Island, was 
born in London in 162 5, and receiving his education at Oxford was 
admitted to the degree of master of arts in 1648. He was soon 
.settled in a fellowship, and in 1651 was appointed a proctor of the 
university. He was afterv/ards preferred by Cromwell to a church 
near Bishopsgate in London, but was ejected by the rump parlia- 
ment, and an anabaptist was placed in his room. He was then a 
lecturer of great St. Helen's church in London, After the restor- 
ation he was not silenced for nonconformity, for he had no prefer- 
ment to lose ; but he lived for some time in Oxfordshire, occasion- 
ally preaching. In 1678 he removed to Ncwington fiecn near 



38S LEE. 

London, where he was for several years minister of an independ- 
ent church. His learned tutor, bishop Wilkins, advised him to en- 
ter tne established church ; but his views of truth and duly would 
Hot suffer him to do it. Being apprehensive, that the rights of 
conscience would soon be further invaded by the return of popery, 
he in June 1685 removed to New England, and preached in the 
town of Bristol. When a church was formed May 8, 1687, he was 
chosen minister. After the revolution in his native country, he was 
eagerly desirous of returning. Just before he sailed in 1691, he 
told his wife that he had viewed a star, which, according to the rules 
of astrology, presaged captivity. He was accordingly captured 
by a French privateer, and carried into St. Maloc, in France, where 
he died about the time of Christmas in 1691 in the sixty fourth 
year of his age, and was buried without the city as a heretic. He 
was a very learned man, who spoke Latin with elegance, was a mas- 
ter of physic and chemistry, and well versed in all the liberal arts imd 
sciences. He had studied the astrological art, but disapproving of 
it, he burned a hundred books, which related to the subject. Though 
a conscientious nonconformist, lie possessed a catholic, liberal spir- 
it. His learning was united with charity, and the poor were ofteii 
relieved by his bounty. He published chronicon Cestrensc, an ex- 
act clu'onology of all the rulers of Cheshire and Chestei' in church 
and state from the foundation of the city, 1656 ; orbis miraculum, 
or the temple of Solomon portrayed by scripture light, folio, 1659 i 
this was printed at the charge of the university ; de excidio anti- 
christi, folio, 1659 ; a sermon on the means to be used for the con- 
yersion of carnal relations, 1661 ; contemplations on mortality, 8vo, 
1659; a sermon on secret prayer, 1674; the visibility of the 
true church, 1675 ; the triumph of mercy in the chariot of 
praise ; a discourse of secret and preventing mercies, 1677 ; 
two discourses on tlie mournful state of the church with a pros- 
pect of her da^vning glory, 16.79; a dissertation on the ancient 
and successive state of the Jews, with scripture evidence of their 
future conversion and establishment in their own land, 1679 ; this 
is printed with Fletcher's Israel redux ; the joy of faith, 1689 ; an- 
swer to many queries relative to America, to its natural produc- 
tions, diseases, &c. 1690 ; the great day of judgment, preached be- 
fore a court at Bristol, 1695. He also wrote a number of Latin 
prefaces to books for Henry Hall, printer at Oxford, and a preface 
to John Rowe's Immanuei, with his life and character.— JFoocfff 
Athena Oxonienscs, ii. 882, 883 ; Calamy^ a account, ii. 36 ; his con- 
linuat. I. 55— 5 6 ; J\''oncovform. meinorialyi. lOi; Mather's magna' 
('m, iii. 223 ; Atcount ofon_t(in of Bristol. 

LEE (Charles), a major general in the army of the United 
States, was born in Wales and was the son of John Lee, a colonel 
in the British service. He entered the army at a very early age ; 
but though he possessed a military spirit, he was ardent in the pur- 



LEE. 38^ 

suit of knowledge. He acquired a competent skill in Greek and 
Latin, while his fondness for travelling made him acquainted with 
the Italian, Spanish, German, and French languages. In 1756 he 
came to America, and was engaged in the attack upon Ticonde- 
roga in July 1758, when Abercrombie was defeated. In 1762 
he bore a colonel's commission, and served under Burgoyne in Por- 
tugal, where he much distinguished himself. Not long afterwards 
he entered into the Polish service. Though he was absent when 
the stamp act passed, he yet by his letters zealously supported the 
cause of America. In the years 1771, 1772, and 1773 he rambled 
over all Europe, for he could never stay long in one place. Dur- 
ing this excursion he was engaged with an officer in Italy in an af- 
fair of honor, and he murdered his antagonist, escaping himself 
with tlie loss of two fingers. Having lost the favor of the ministry 
and the hopes of promotion in consequence of his political senti- 
ments, he ^ame to America in November 1773. He travelled 
through the country, animating the colonies to resistance. In 1774 
he was induced by the persuasion of his friend, general Gates, to 
purchase a valuable tract of land of two or three thousand acres in 
Berkley county, Virginia. Here he resided till the following year, 
when he resigned a commission, which he held in the British ser- 
vice, and accepted a commission from congress, appointing him ma- 
jor general. He accompanied Washington to the camp at Cam- 
bridge, where he arrived July 2, 1775, and was received with every 
mark of respect. In the beginning of the following year he was 
despatched to New York to prevent the British from obtaining pos- 
session of the city and the Hudson. This trust he executed with 
great wisdom and energy. He disarmed all suspicious persons on 
Long Island, and drew up a test to be offered to every one, whose 
attachment to the American cause was doubted. His bold measures 
carried terror wherever he appeared. He seems to have been very 
fond of this application of a test ; for in a letter to the president of 
congress he informs him, that he had taken the liberty at Newport to 
administer to a number of the toriesa very strong oath, one article of 
which was, that they should take arms in defence of their country, if 
called upon by congress, and he recommends, that this measure 
should be adopted in reference to all the tories in America. Those 
fanatics, who might rei\ise to take it, he thought should be carried 
into the interior. Being sent into the southern colonies, as com- 
mander of all the forces, which should there be raised, he diffused 
an ardpr among the soldiers, which was attended with the most sal- 
utary consequences. He was very active in giving directions and 
making preparations previously to the unsuccessful attack of the 
British on Sullivan's island June 28, 1776. In October by the direc- 
tion of congress he repaired to the northern army. As he was march- 
ing from the Hudson through New Jersey to form a junction with 
Washington in Pennsylvania, he quitted his camp in Morris countjr 



364 LliE. 

to reconnoitre. In this employment he went to the distance of 
three miles from the ciimp and entered a house for breakfast. A 
British colonel became acquainted with his situation by interceptinjj; 
a countryman, charged with a letter from him, and was enabled to 
lake him prisoner. He was instantly mounted on a horse without 
his cloak and hat, and carried safely to New York. He was detain- 
ed till April or May 1778, when he was exchanged for general 
Prescott, taken at Newport. He was very soon engaged in the 
battle of Monmouth. Being detached by the commander in chief 
to make an attack upon the rear of the enemy, general Washington 
^v'as pressing forward to support him on the twenty eighth of June, 
when to his astonishment he found him retreating without having 
made a single eftbrt to maioudn his ground. Meeting him in these 
» ircumstances, without any previous notice of his plans. Wash- 
ington addressed him in terms of some warmth. Lee, being or- 
dered to check the enemy, conducted himself with his usual brave- 
ry, and when forced from the ground, on which he had been placed, 
brought off his troops in good order. But his haughty temper 
could not brook the indigr.ity, which he believed to have been offer- 
ed him on the field of battle, and he addressed a letter to Washing- 
ton, requiring reparation for the injury. He Avas on the thirtieth 
•arrested for disobedience of orders, for misbehavior before the en- 
emy, and for disrespect to the commander in chief. Of these 
charges he was found guilty by a court martial, at which lord Stir- 
ling presided, and he was sentenced to be suspended for one year. 
He defended himself with his accustomed ability, and his retreat 
seems to be justified from the circumstance of his having advanced 
upon an enemy, whose strength was much greater, than was ap- 
prehended, and from his being in a situation, with a morass in his 
rear, which would preclude him from a retreat, if the British should 
have proved victorious. But his disrespectful letters to the com- 
mander in chief it is not easy to justify. His suspension gave gen- 
eral satisfaction to the army, for he was suspected of aiming him- 
self at the supreme command. After the result of his trial was 
confirmed by congress in January 1780 he retired to his estate ia 
Berkley county, Virginia, where he lived in a style peculiar to him- 
self. Glass windows and plaster would have been extravagances in 
his house. Though he had for his companions a few select authors 
and his dogs, yet as he found his situation too solitary and irksome, 
he sold his farm in the fall of 1782, that in a different abode he 
might enjoy the conversation of mankind. He went to Philadel- 
phia and took lodgings in an inn. After being three or four days 
in the city he v/as seized by a fever, which termin itcd his life Oc- 
tober 2, 1782, The last words, which he uttered, were, " stand by 
me, my brave grenadiers." 

In his person general Lee was rather above the middle size, ani 
his remarkable aquiline nose rendered his face somewhat disagree- 



LEE. 58a 

able. He was master of a most genteel address, but was rude in 
his manners and excessively negligent in his appearance and be- 
havior. His appetite was so whimsical, that he was every where u 
most troublesome guest. Two or three dogs usually followed him 
wherever he went. As an officer he was brave and able, and did 
nmch towards disciplining the American army. With vigorous 
powers of mind and a brilliant fancy he was a correct and elegant 
classical scholar, and he both wrote and spoke his native language 
with propriety, force, and beauty. His temper was severe. The 
history of his life is little else than the history of disputes, quarrels, 
and duels in every part of the world. He was vindictive, avari- 
cious, immoral, impious, and profane. His principles, as would be 
expected from his character, were most abandoned, and he ridicul- 
ed every tenet of religion. In his last will he directed, that he 
should not be buried in any church or church yard, or within a 
mile of any presbyterian or anabaptist meeting house. He had 
kept so much bad company in this country, when living, that he 
was unwilling,as he says, to continue it, when dead. He published 
about the year 1760 a pamphlet on the importance of retaining 
Canada, which Dr. Franklin spoke of with respect. After his death 
memoirs of his life, with his essays and letters, were publishedj 
I2mo, 1792. — Lee's ineinoirs ; Hardie's biog. diet.; jlmerican JVe- 
jios; Marshall^ ii. 286 — 291 ; ajipend. 64 ; iii. 27, 457, 469 — 482 ; 
Stedman, i. 226, 227 ; ii. 22 ; Gordon, ii. 173, 175, 205, 344, 409 ; 
iii. 136 — 154; iv. 305 — 308 ; Warren^ i. 235, 291, 336; ii. 93 — 
96 ; Collect, hist. soc. ii 150 ; Holmes' annals, ii. 466. 

LEE (Richard Henry), president of congress, was a native of 
Virginia, and from his earliest youth devoted his talents to the ser- 
vice of his country. His public life was distinguished by some re- 
markable circumstances. He had the honor of originating the first 
resistance to British oppression in the time of the stamp act in 
1765. He proposed in the Virginia house of burgesses in 1773 
the formation of a committee of correspondence, whose object was 
to disseminate information, and to kindle the flame of liberty 
throughout the continent. He was a member of the first congress, 
and it was he, who made and ably supported the declaration of in- 
dependence June 7, 1776. After the adoption of the articles of the 
confederation he was under the necessity of withdrawing from con- 
gress, as no representative was allowed to continue in congress 
more than three years in any term of six years ; but he was reelect- 
ed in 1784 and continued till 1787. It was in November 1784, that 
he was chosen president of congress. When the constitution of the 
United States was submitted to the consideration of the public he 
contended for the necessity of amendments previously to its adop- 
tion. After the government was organized, he and Mr. Grayson 
were chosen the first senators from Virginia in 1789. This sta- 
tion he held till his resignation in 1793, when John Taylor was 

50 



S86. LEE. 

appointed in his place. Mr. Lee died at his seat at Chantilly in 
Westmoreland county, Virginia, June 22, 1794, in the sixty third 
year of his age. He supported throu;j,h life the character of a 
philosopher, a patriot, and a sage ; and he died, as he had lived, 
blessing his country. The petition to the king, which was adopted 
by the congress in 1774, and was admirably well drawn up, has 
been generally attributed to his pen A letter, which he wrote 
against Deane, is published in the Virginia gazette of January 1 , 
and the independent chronicle of February 11, 1779, and a letter 
to governor Randolph respecting the constitution in the American 
museum. He is supposed to have been the author of observations 
leading to a fair examination of the system of government, proposed 
by the late convention, in letters from the federal farmer to the 
republican, 1787 — Gazette of U. S.July 8, 1794^; Marshall, ii. l«0 
— 183, 209, 402, 409 ; Gordon, ii. 274 ; Warren, u 306 ; Holmes* 
annals, ii. 492 ; .American museum, ii. 55 3—558. 

LEE (Arthur, M.D.), minister of the United States to the court 

of Versailles, was a native of Virginia and the brother of Richard 

H^nry Lee. He was educated at the university of Edinburgh, 

where he also pursued for some time the study of medicine. On 

his I'eturn to this country he practised physic four or five years in 

Williamsburgh. He then went to London and commenced the 

study of the law in the Temple. During his residence in England 

he kept his eye upon the measures of government, and rendered 

the most important services to his country by sending to America 

the earliest intelligence of the plans of the ministry. When the 

instructions to governor Bernard were sent over, he at the same 

time communicated information to the town of Boston respecting 

the nature of them. He returned, it is believed, before 1769, for 

in that year he published the monitor's letters in vindication of the 

colonial rights. In 1 775 he was in London as the agent of Virginia, 

and he presented in August the second petition of congress to the 

lung. All his exertions were now directed to the good of his 

country. When Mr. Jefferson declined the appointment of a 

minister to France, Dr. Lee was appointed in his place, and he 

joined his colleagues, Dr. Franklin and Mr. Deane, at Paris in 

December 1776. He assisted in negotiating the treaty with France. 

In 1779 he and Mr. Adams, who had taken the place of Deane, 

were recalled, and Dr. Franklin was appointed sole minister to 

France. His return had been rendered necessary by the malicious 

accusations, with which Deane had assailed his public conduct. In 

the preceding year Deane had left Paris agreeably to an order of 

congress, and came to this country in the same ship with the French 

minister, Gerard. On his arrival, as many susijicions hovered 

around him, he thought it necessary to repel them by attacking the 

r.haracter of his colleague, Dr. Lee. In an infliVimatory address 

"o the public he vilified him in the grossest terms, charging him 



LEE. S87 

with obstructing the alliance with France, and disclosing the secrets 
of congress to iiritish noblemen. He at the same time impeached 
the conduct of his brother, William Lee, esquire, agent for congress 
at the courts of Vienna and Berlin. Dr. Lee also was not on very 
good terms with Dr. Franklin, whom he believed to be too much 
under the influence of the French court. Firm in his attachment 
to the interests of his country, lionest, zealous ; he was inclined to 
question the correctness of ail the comiTiercial transactions, in which 
the philosopher had been engaged. These dissensions among the 
ministers produced corresponding divisions in congress, and Mon- 
sieur Gerard had so little respect to the dignity of an ambassador, 
as to become a zealous partizan of Deane. Dr. Lee had many 
friends in congress, but Dr. Franklin had more. When the former 
returned to America in 1780, such was his integrity, that he did 
not find it difficult to reinstate himself fully in the good opinion of 
the public. In 1784 he was appointed one of tlie commissioners 
for holding a treaty with the Indians of the six nations. He accord- 
ingly went to fort Schuyler and executed this trust in a manner, 
which did him much honor. In February 1790 he was admitted a 
counsellor of the supreme court of the United States by a spe- 
cial order. Altera short illness he died December 14, 1792, at 
Urbanna in Middlesex county, Virginia. He was a man of uniform 
patriotism, of a sound understanding, of great probity, of plain 
manners, and strong passions. During his residence for a number 
of years in England he was .indefatigable in his exertions to promote 
the interests of his country. To the abilities of a statesman he 
united the acquisitions of a scholar. He was a member of the 
American philosophical society. Besides the monitor's letters, 
written in 17-69, which have been mentioned, he published extractK 
from a letter to the president of congress in answer to a libel by 
Silas Deane, 1780; and observations on certain commevcial trans- 
actions in France, laid before congress, 1780. — Wcn-ren^u. 1S2— 
139 ; Gordon, ii. 447 ; Mars/mli, iii. 414 ; Holmes' annals, ii. 488 ; 
Transact. Amer. fihilos. soc. iii. 414. 

LEESE (Anna), founder of the sect of shakers, was born in 
England of low parentage, and procured subsistence at the expense 
■of her character. She first divulged her extraordinary pretensions 
in the year 1770, assuming the name of the elect lady, but being 
miore generally denominated the mother. Having collected about 
■thirty followers in Manchester, she established her religious exer- 
cises in the same manner, as she afterwards did in America. But 
her performances were so clamorous, and her rites so subversive of 
the peace of families, that the sect was deemed a public nuisance 
and their assemblies su|>pressed by civil authority. The elect lady 
with five of her followers came to New York in 1774. Being 
joined by six others in 1776 they purchased land in Nisqucunia, 
.about ten miles north west from Albjinv. Here thev lived unnoticed 



388 LEE. 

and industrious three or four years. But in the beginning of 1780, 
when there was an unusual religious commotion in New Lebanon 
and some adjacent towns, in the midst of the wildness and extrava- 
gance of lanaticism, some account of the elect lady reached the 
bewildered enthusiasts. Immediately the road to Nisqueunia was 
crowded with deluded beings in quest of greater delusions. The 
mother received them with many smiles and told them she knew 
of their coming before, declared herself to be the woman clothed 
with the sun, mentioned in the twelfth chapter of the Revelation, 
claimed the power of ministering the Holy Spirit to whom she 
pleased, asserted that she was daily judging the dead of all nations, 
who came to her for that purpose, and that no favor could be shown 
to any person but through the contession of their sins unto hci*. 
These impious pretensions, enforced upon persons, some of wiiom 
were already bereft of reason, by the magical charms of wry looks, 
odd postures, whimsical gestures, unintelligible mutterings, alter- 
nate groans and laughter, and the solemn ceremony of hopping, 
dancing, and whirling, completed the work of converting rational 
beings into ideots, and brought her in a fine harvest of deluded fol- 
lowers. One of these was Mr. Valentine Rathbun, a baptist min- 
ister, who however in about three months recovered his senses, and 
published a pamphlet against the imposture. He says, that there 
attended this infatuation an inexplicable agency upon the body, to 
which he himself was subjected, that affected the nerves suddenly 
and forcibly like the electric fluid, and was followed by tremblings 
and the complete deprivation of strength. When the good mother 
had soniewhut established her authority with her new disciples, 
she warned them of the great sin of following the vain customs of 
the world, and having fleeced them of their ear rings, necklaces, 
buckles, and every thing, which might nourish pride, and having 
cut off their hair close by their ears, she admitted them into her 
church. Thus metamorphosed, they were ashamed to be seen by 
their old acquaintance, and would be induced to continue shakers 
to save themselves from further humiliation. The impostor as- 
serted, that she was not liable to the assaults of death, and that 
when she left this world, she should ascend in the twinkling of an 
eye to heaven. But v.nhappily for her claims, she was not ex- 
empted from the same event, which befals beasts, and her bones 
are mouldering in the vile ground. She died in 1784. The sect, 
which she established, has experienced a number of revolutions. 
At present tlu y are distinguished for uprightness and industry, but 
they persist in rejecting the ordinances, which Jesus Christ most 
expressly enjoined, and substituting revelations and impressions 
upon their minds in the place of the consistent and plain instruc- 
tions of scripture, they are to be classed with those, who choose 
rather to be guided by tiicir own reason or imagination, than by 
the wisdom of God.-— .Al-cy York thcolog. magazlr.".^ i. S2 ; WRathf 



LEV. 389 

bun's brief hints ; D. Rathburi's account of the shakers ; Taylor's 
account ; West's account ; Adams' view of religions^ art, shakers £ 
Backus, iii. 194, 195. 

LE MERCIER (Andrew), minister in Boston, had for many 
years the care of the protestant French church, which was found- 
ed by persecuted protestants, driven from France by the revoca- 
tion of the edict of Nantes in 1686. The society being very much 
diminished, Mr. Le Mercier at length desisted trom his public la- 
bors, and the house was in 174 8 occupied by Mr. Croswell's church. 
He died in 1762, having sustained a reputable character. He pub- 
lished a church history of Geneva, 12mo, 1732; and a treatise 
on detraction. — Collect, hist. soc. iii. 264, 301. 

LEVERETT (John), governor of Massachusetts, signalized him- 
self by his bravery in the early periods of his life. He was long 
employed in public affairs and places of great trust. He was in 
England at the restoration, and appeared an advocate for the colony. 
Upon his return to this country he was chosen a member of the 
general court for Boston. In 1664 he was chosen major general, 
and in 1665 an assistant. He was elected governor in 1673 as suc- 
cessor to Bellingham, and was continued in that office till his death, 
March 16, 1678. His administration is spoken of with respect. 
He was succeeded by governor Bradstreet.— A/«^c/m, ii. 19 ; 
JVeal, ii. 32 ; Hutchinson, i. 169, 270, 323. 

LEVERETT (John), president of Harvard college, was grand- 
son of governor Leverett, and was graduated at the college, which 
was afterwards entrusted to liis care, in 1680. He was first ap- 
pointed a tutor in this seminary. He next was chosen a member 
of the house of representatives, and then speaker. He was succes- 
sively a member of his majesty's council, a justice of the superior 
court, and a judge of the probate of wills. After the death of the 
vice president Willard, he was chosen president of Harvard col- 
lege, and was inducted into this office January 14, 1708. In this 
station he continued till his death, which took place suddenly May 
3, 1724. He was succeeded by Wads worth. President Leverett 
received from the gift of God great powers of mind, which he dil- 
igently cultivated. He was conspicuous for his learning ; and he 
was an eminent divine as well as statesman. In an early period of 
his life he occasionally preached. So extensive was his knowledge 
and so correct was his judgment, that in almost every difficult case 
the people resorted to him for information and advice. He was a 
man of courage, and resolution, and firmness, as well as learning. 
No difficulties discouraged him, when he once engaged in any af- 
fair of importance ; he encountered them with cheerfulness ; and 
l)y his perseverance and diligence frequently effected what would 
have been impossible to a mind of feebler texture. When his 
object could not be accomplished, he yielded it without disquietude. 
At the head of the university he was respected, for b.e possessed 



390 LIN. 

personal dignity and a talent of government. There wati a majestf 
in iiis speech, behavior, and counienance, which secured tlie rever- 
ence ol all, who conversed with him, and impressed the youth, who 
were subject to his authority, with awe. Yet he did not lose their 
affections, ior his dignity was not tlic oflspring of pride. He was 
a good man, ot unafi'ectcci piety and oi a hoiy iiie, a cordial friend to 
the congregational clmrches, but placing religion not so nmch in 
particular ibrms,as in the weiglitier matters of righteousness, faith, 
and love. In his care of the college he was indefatigable, and it 
flourished much during his presidency. He was its glory, and he 

•Was also the ornament of liis country Funeral scrrnoyis by ^pfileton^ 

Colman, and Wadsworlh j Fly nt's oration on VVudsworth i Hutchiii' 
S071, i. 323. 

LINING (John, m.d.), an eminent physician and philosopher 
of South Carolina, was a native of Scotland, and received an excel- 
lent education. He came to America about the year 1725. He 
corresponded with Dr. Franklin on the subject of electricity, and 
was the first person, who introduced an electrical apparatus into 
Charleston. He made and published a series of judicious statical 
experiments, which were conducted through the whole of the year 
1 740. In 1 7 5 3 he published a history of the yellow fever, which was 
the first account of that disease, that was given to the world from 
the American continent. — Miller, ii. 364 ; Ramsay's reviciv of med- 
icine, 42, 44. 

■LINN (William, D.D.), minister in New York, was born in 
1752 and was graduated at the college of New Jersey in 1772. He 
was at jirst connected with the presbyterian church in Pennsylvania. 
During the war of the revolution he was chaplain in the army. A 
few years after the peace he attached himself to the reformed Dutch 
church, and settled in the city of New York. He was finally con- 
strained to resign his pastoral charge by indisposition, though his 
friends regarded his complaints as imaginary ; and he died at Alba- 
ny in January 1808, in the fifty sixth year of his age. Before 
disease broke down his strength, he was distinguished and useful. 
His eloquence was for the most part natural, impressive, and com- 
manding, though at times he had too much vehemence in his 
manner. He married a daughter of the reverend John Blair. The 
following are his publications ; a military discourse, delivered in 
Carlisle, 1776 ; the spiritual death and life of the believer, and the 
character and misery of the wicked, two sermons in American 
preacher, i; a sermon on the anniversary of American inpedendence, 
179 1 ; sermons historical and characteristical, 12 mo, 179 1 ; a fune- 
ral eulogy on Washington, 1 800. — Punolilist, iii. 43 1 , 432 ; Life of 
J. B. Lhm, 1 . ' 

LINN (John Blair, d. d.), a poet, and minister in Philadelphia, 
was the son of the preceding, and was born in Shippensburgh, Penn» 
sylvania, March 14, 1777. He carJy evinced a strong attachment 



LIN. 391 

to books^ When he was nine years old his father removecl to New 
York, and here he enjoyed new opportunities ot improvement under 
vespectable teachers. At the ago of thirteen he returned home 
from a seminary in Flatbush on Long Island, where he had passed 
two or three years in the full enjoyment of health, and delighted 
with the beauties of nature. He now entered v^ommbia college, 
and engaged in a new scene, being subject to new discipline and 
interested by new associates. During the four years, which he 
passed in the college, his taste, like the taste ot others at that peri- 
od, became fixed, and a permanent direction was given to his incli- 
nations. He evinced a powerful tendency to poetry and criticism. 
The fine writers of the age, particularly the poets, became his dar- 
ling study, and the glow of admiration was followed by a zeal to 
imitate. Admiring the great works of the dramatic writers, it was 
natural for him, when unrestrained by deep seriousness, and in a 
city, where there is an established theatre, to hasten where he might 
behold these works invested with the charms of life and action on 
the stage. But though the theatre became his chief passion, he 
was not seduced into vicious pleasures. When his academical 
career was ended, he was eighteen years of age, and his choice of a 
profession fell upon the law. He was placed under the direction of 
Alexander Hamilton, who was the friend of his father ; but he did 
not apply himself with much assiduity to his new pursuit. The 
splendid visions of Shakespeare and Tasso were more attractive, 
than the naked abstractions and tormenting subtleties of Blackstone 
and Coke. He regarded the legal science every day with new 
indifference, and at the close of the first year relinquished the pro- 
fession altogether. Before this event he had ventured to produce 
a dramatic composition, called Bourville castle, on the stage. Its 
success was encouraging ; but other objects now claimed his atten- 
tion, and his dramatic career was entirely renounced. His passion 
for theatrical amusements yielded to affections of a more serious 
and beneficial nature, and those religious impressions, which from 
his earliest infancy he had occasionally felt, now sunk permanently 
into his heart. After much deliberation, he determined to devote 
his future life to the service of the church. Such a decision, in 
his circumstances and with his prospects, could flow only from 
deep convictions of duty. 

Perceiving the necessity of relinquishing with his former habits 
and pursuits many of his former companions, and of abe.ndoning the 
scenes, to which he had been accustomed to resort, he retired to 
Schenectady, and put liiniself under the care of Dr. Romeyn, a 
professor of theology in the reformed Dutch church. Expei'ience 
daily presented new difficuUies, but his zeal v.-as not diminished. 
A license to preach was obtained from the classis of Albany in the 
year 1 798, when he had just entered his twenty second year. Amidst 
some exuberances of style and sentiment the excellence of his per- 



392 LIN. 

formances excited lively expectations of his future distinction. He 
received calls fi*om the presbyteriun church at Elizabethtown, New 
Jersey, and from the first presbyterian church at Philadelphia. He 
finally decided, though not without much hesitation, in favor of the 
latter situation. In this decision he was influenced by a diffidence 
of his own powers, which he believed would have to encounter less 
arduous trials as an assistant minister, than where tlie whole charge 
should devolve upon himself. He was ordained June J3, 1799, as 
colleague with the reverend Dr. Ewing. The two succeding years 
of his life were passed in diligent and successful application to the 
duties of the pastoral office, which were rendered more arduous by 
the increasing infirmities of his venerable colleague. But during this 
interval, amidst the faithful labors of his office, he found time to 
write two poems, the first on the death of Washington, and the sec- 
ond the powers of genius, a poem of considerable length, which 
was very acceptable to the public, and has been published in a 
splendid manner in England. 

Mr. Linn's temperament was sanguine and his health at all times 
extremely variable. From his earliest infancy he was liable to fits 
of severe indisposition. As there was a powerful sympathy between 
his body and mind, all disorders in the former produced confusion 
and despondency in the latter. He was always prone to portend an 
unfavorable issue to his disease. In tlie summer of 1802 his con- 
stitution suffered irreparable mischief from a fever, induced by ex- 
posure to the rays of a burning sun. His brain afterwards was fre- 
quently seized with a dizziness, which was followed by a heavy de- 
pression of mind. He struggled manfully with his infirmity, but 
his strength was wasting, and he was sinking into the earth. That 
his powers of reasoning and reflection, however, were not impair- 
ed by his disease he very soon furnished an incontestable proof 
in the spirit, with which he carried on a short controversy, 
during this year, with Dr. Priestley. That pertinacious Socinian 
had published a short treatise, in which he drew a comparison be- 
tween Jesus Christ and Socrates. Mr. Linn stepped forward against 
the veteran controversialist, subjected the character of Socrates to a 
rigid scrutiny, and while he endeavored to reduce it to its proper 
point in the scale, the transcendent merits of Christ were urged 
with unusual eloquence. A second reply to a second publication of 
Mr. Linn was the dying effort of Priestley in favor of the Socinian 
doctrines. Mr. Linn was zealous and impetuous; some of hi» 
friends thought the importance of the subject in controversy justifi- 
ed the asperity, v.'ith which the youth treated his adversary, venera- 
ble for age and science ; but he did not justify himself, and he was 
known to speak of his vehemence with tears of ri>ij,ret He even 
wrote a letter of apology to Dr. Priestley, but the death of the latter 
prevented his receiving it. During this period he put togetherthe 
materials of a poem, to which he intendcdto entrust his future fame 



L;N. 393 

asappef. This fragment of a plan, copious and comprehensive, 
was. left in a state thought to be sufficiently perfected for the press, 
and it was published after his death under the title of Valerian. To 
the proofs of literary excellence, which he had exhibited, was he in- 
debted for a degree of doctor in divinity from the university of Penn- 
sylvania, conferred without the previous knowledge of himself 
or his familiar friends. This honor probably was never before 
conferred on so young a man. 

He was now approachuig the hour of his dissolution. The gloom, 
which hovered over his mind, became deeper and more settled. He 
could look, beyond the grave without fear, but the terrors of death 
were almost insupportable. In the summer of 1804 he was induced 
to take a journey to the eastern states. The images of melancholy, 
the gloom, the despondence, the terror, which he had before felt, 
still however attended him. He returned to Philadelphia in July. 
On the thirtieth of August h^ arose with less indisposition, than 
usual. He contemplated resigning his sacred office, and engaging 
in soiBC employment, corresponding more to his strength, in which 
he could be useful. On the evening of that day he had scarcely 
laid his head upon the pillow, when he said to his wife, " I feel 
something burst within me. Call the family together; I am dy- 
ing." A stream of blood now choaked his utterance. But after a 
short interval he recovered strength to exclaim with fervency, 
clasping his hands and lifting his eyes, " Lord Jesus, pardon my 
transgressions, and receive my soul 1" Such was the termination 
of his life August 30, 1804, in the twenty eighth year of his age. 

As a preacher, few persons ever attained so great a popularity as 
he acquii-ed before his twenty third year. Time pruned away his 
juvenile luxuriances and gave greater solidity to his discourses, 
without rendering them less engaging. As a poet he possesses 
considerable merit. His talents were of the first order. He was 
capable of deep research, but the indulgence of his imagination 
and his taste had more charms for him. His temper was quick ; 
his sensibility exquisite. Though sometimes rash, yet he was 
generous. He was accustomed to dwell more on the dark, than on 
the bright side of the picture of life. He was often a prey to mel- 
ancholy, sitting for days silent, sad, and gloomy. He felt even tQ 
njadness the slightest disrespect, and as sensibly enjoyed attention 
paid to him. With years however his sensibility was corrected. 
The frame of his mind in relation to spiritual things was a perfect 
contrast to what it was in the common concerns of life. He uni- 
formly trusted in the Savior of sinners, and the apprehensions of 
future life, however humble were the views he entertained of him- 
self, did not interrupt the composure of his mind. 

He prepared for the press and published soon after he left col- 
lege without his name two volumes of miscellanies in prose and 
verse, 13 mo. His poem on the death of Washington, which has 

51 



394 LIV. 

been mentioned, was written in imitation of the manner of Ossian, 
and published in 1800, and his powers of genius in 1801 ; a funeral 
sermon on Dr. Ewing, 1802; his two tracts in the controversy 
Avith Dr. Priestley, 1802. After his death there was published from 
his manuscripts Valerian, a narrative poem, intended in part to 
describe the early persecutions of Christians, and rapidly to illus- 
trate the influence of Christianity on the manners of nations, 4to, 
1805. Prefixed to this is a sketch of Dr. Linn's life by Mr. 
Brown, written in a style of uncommon excellence. — His life in Va- 
lerian ; Port folio, neiu serien, \.2\ — 29, 129 — 134, 195 — 203; 
Blair's fu7i. sermon ; JVeio York sjicctator, Sc/it. 8, 1804 ; Hardie'e 
biog. diet, apfiend. 1 — 7. 

LIVINGSTON, (William, LL. d.), governor of New Jersey, 
descended from a family in Nev/ York, which emigrated from 
North Britain, and which was distinguished for its numbers, opu- 
lence, talents. Christian virtue, and attachment to liberty. He 
was boi'n about the year 1723, and was graduated at Yale college in 
1741. He afterwards pursued the study of the law. Possessing 
from the gift of God a strong and comprehensive mind, a brilliant 
imagination, and a retentive memory, and improving with unweari- 
ed diligence the literary advantages, which he enjoyed, he soon rose 
to eminence in his profession. He early embraced the cause of 
civil and religious liberty. When Great Britain advanced her 
arbitrary claims, he employed his pen in opposing them and in 
vindicating the rights of his countrymen. After sustaining some 
important offices in New York he removed to New Jersey, and as a 
representative of this state was one of the principal members of the 
first congress in 1774. After the inhabitants of New Jersey had 
sent their governor, Mr. William Franklin, under a strong guard 
to Connecticut, and had formed a new constitution in July 1776, 
Mr. Livingston was elected the first chief magistrate, and such was 
his integrity and republican virtue, that he was annually reelected 
till his death. During the war he bent his exertions to support the 
independence of his country. By the keenness and severity of his 
political writings he exasperated the British, who distinguished him 
as an object of their peculiar hatred. His pen had no inconsiderable 
influence in exciting that indignation and zeal, which rendered the 
militia of New Jersey so remarkable for the alacrity, with which on 
any alarm they arrayed themselves against the common enemy. 
He was in 1787 a delegate to the grand convention, which formed 
the constitution of the United States. After having sustained the 
office of governor for fourteen years with great honor to himself and 
usefulness to the state, he died at his seat near Elizabethtown July 
25, 1790, aged sixty seven years. He was succeeded by William 
Patterson. 

Govemor Livingston was from his youth remarkably plain and 
simple in his dress and manners. Always the enemy of parade. 



LOC. 39^ 

lie never exhibited himself in splendor. He was convivial, easy, 
mild, vfitty, and fond of anecdote. Fixed and unshaken in Christian 
principles, his life presented an example of incorruptible integrity, 
strict honor, and warm benevolence. He obeyed the precepts of 
the gospel, and in the opinion of his Christian friends was sincerely 
pious. He relied for salvation solely upon the mei-its of Christ. 
In his political principles he was purely republican, having an 
an abhorrence of the monarchical form of government. He was an 
excellent classical scholar. His writings evince a vigorous mind 
and a refined taste. Intimately acquainted with the celebrated 
writers of his day and of the preceding age, he acquired an elegance 
of style, which placed him among the first of modern writers. He 
was unequalled in satire. He published a poem, called philosoph- 
ical solitude ; a funeral elogium on the reverend president Burr, 
1758, which is considered as a fine specimen of eloquence; a letter 
to the bishop of Landaff, occasioned by some passages in his sermon 
on the twentieth of February, 1767 ; and a number of miscellaneous 
tracts, which were published in various periodical works. A valu- 
able review of the military operations in North America from 1753 
to 1756 in a letter to a nobleman was vmtten by him. in conjunction 
with his friends, Messrs. W. Smith and Scott, lawyers, New York. 
It is preserved in the collections of the Massachusetts historical 
society. His son, William Livingston, esquire, issued propos- 
als a lew years ago for publishing memoirs of his life, with his 
miscellaneous writings in prose and verse ; but the work has not 
yet been given to the public. — Macivhorter's fun. serm. ; Miller's 
retrospect^ ii. 369; Hardie's biog.dict.; Gazette U. S. July 28, 
1790 ; Columb. magA. 7, 8 ; Amer. muse. iv. 235 ; viii. 254 — 256 ; 
ix. 17; X. 17, 68, 113, 162, 209 ; Collect, hist.soc. vii. 67 — 163. 

LOCKWOOD (Samuel, d. d.), minister of Andover, Connecti- 
cut, was a native of Norwalk, and was graduated at Yale college in 
1745. He was ordained February 15, 1749, and died June 18, 
1791, He contributed in the year 1787 one hundred pounds to- 
wards completing the philosophical apparatus in Yale college. He 
published a sermon on the death of colonel Williams, 1755. — 
Holmes' life of Stiles, 390, 397, 

LOGAN (James,) distinguished for his learning, was descended 
from a family formerly of Scotland, and was born at Lurgan in Ire- 
land in 1674. Possessing a good genius and being favo'ed with a 
suitable education, he made considerable proficiency in the sciences 
and in various branches of polite literature. As he was educated 
in the sentiments of the quakers, and was acquainted with Will- 
iam Penn, he Avas induced to accompany that gentleman to Penn- 
sylvania in 1699 in his last voyage. Under his patronage he was 
much employed in public affairs. By his commission he was in 
1701 appointed secretary of the province and clerk of the council. 
He afterwards held the offices of commissioner of property, chief 



396 LOG. 

justice, and president of the council. He attached himself rather 
to the interest of the proprietary and his governor than to that of 
the assembly, and was in consequence in the earlier periods of his 
life very unpopular ; but he soon gave general satisfaction in the 
d'scharge of the duties of his several offices. Upon the death of gov- 
ernor Gordon in October 1736 the government of course devolved 
upon him, as he was president of the council ; and during liis ad- 
ministration of two years the utmost harmony prevailed throughout 
the province. Several years previously to his death he retired from 
public affairs and spent the latter part of his life principally at Stan- 
ton, his country seat, near Germantown, where he enjoyed among 
his books that leisure, which he much relished, and was much em- 
ployed in corresponding with learned men in different parts of Eu- 
rope. He died October 31, 1751, aged about seventy seven years. 
He was well versed in both ancient and modern learning ; he had 
made considerable proficiency in oriental literature ; he was mas- 
ter of the Greek, Latin, French, and German languages ; and he 
was well acquainted with mathematics, natural and moral philoso- 
phy, and natural history. In his religious sentiments he was a 
quaker. He had collected with great care a library of more than 
three thousand volumes, which at that time was by far the largest 
in Pennsylvania, and particularly rich in works in the Latin and 
Greek languages, and in the most ciu'ious, rare, and excellent sci- 
entific publications. This valual)le collection of books, usually 
called the Loganian library, was bequeathed by its possessor to the 
citizens of Philadelphia, and has since been deposited in one of the 
apartments belonging to the library company of that city. The 
two libraries in connexion contain near twenty thousand volumes, 
the largest collection of books in the United States. 

Mr. Logan published in the philosophical transactions for 1735 
an account of liis experiments on maize with a particular view to 
the investigation of the sexual system of plants. The experiments 
were considered as decisive. The work was afterwards published 
in Latin, entitled, experimenta et meletemata de planiarum genera- 
tione, Sec. Leyden, 1739 ; and in London by Dr. Fothergill Avith an 
English version on the opposite page, 1747. He also published cano- 
num pro inveniendis refractionum, tum simplicium, turn in lentibus 
duplicium focis,demonstrationesgeometricje,&c. Leyden, 1739 ; and 
a ti tnslation of Cicero'streatise de senectute with explanatory notes, 
and with a commendatory preface by Dr. Franklin, 1744. This 
was the first translation of a classical author, made in America. — 
Fraud's hist. Pennsylvania, i. 478. 479 ; Harclit's dioif. diet.; Mil: 
lev's retrosfiect, i. 134; ii. 340. 

LOGAN, an eloquent Indian chief, was the second son of Shik- 
ellcmus, a celebrated chief of the Cayuga nation, whose residence 
was at Shamokin. Logan was the friend of the white people, he 
admired their ingenuity, and wished to be a neighbor to them. Mr. 



LOR. 397 

Heckewelder, a Moravian missionavy, saw Logan in 1772, and by a 
conversation with him was impressed with the belief, that his talents 
■were of a higher grade, than those usually possessed by Indians. 
In April or May 1774, when Logan's residence was on the Ohio, 
his family was murdei'ed by a party of whites under the command 
of captain Michael Cresap. The occasion of this outrage was a 
report, that the Indians had killed a number of white persons, who 
were looking out for new settlements. A war immediately com- 
menced, and during the summer great numbers of innocent men, 
women, and children fell victims to the tomahawk and scalping 
knife of the Indians. In the autumn of the same year a decisive 
battle was fought at the mouth of the great Kanhaway between the 
collected forces of the Shawanese, Mingocs, and Delawares, and a 
detachment of the Virginia militia. The Indians were defeated 
and sued for peace. Logan however disdained to be seen among 
the suppliants. But lest the sincerity of a treaty, from which so dis- 
tinguished a chief absented himself, should be mistrusted, he sent by 
a^messenger the followin;* speech to be delivered to lord Dunmore, 
governor of Virginia. " I appeal to any white man to say, if ever 
he entered Logan's cabin hungry, and he gave him not meat; if 
ever he came cold and naiked, and he clothed him not. During the 
course of the last long and bloody war Logan remained idle in his 
cabin, an advocate for ptsace. Such was my love for the whites, 
that my countrymen pointed, as they passed, and said, Logan is the 
friend of white men, I had even thouf^ht to have lived with you, 
but for the injuries of one man. Colonel Cresap, the last spring, 
in cold blood and unprovoked, murdered all the relations of Logan, 
not even sparing my women and children. There runs not a drop 
of my blood in the veins o f any living creature. This called on mc 
for I'evenge. I have sout^ht it ; I have killed many ; I have fully 
glutted my vengeance, l^'or my country I rejoice at the beams of 
peace. B'at do not harbor a thought tliat mine is the joy of fear. 
Logan never felt fear. He will not turn on his heel to save his 
life. Who is there to mourn for Logan ? Not one." 

After this peace Logan sunk into a deep melancholy, and declared 
that life was a torment to him. He became in some measure de- 
lirious. He went to Detroit, w^here he yielded himself to the habit of 
intoxication. On his return, between that place and Miami, he 
was murdered In Octobtn' 1781 Mr. Heckewelder was shown 
the spot !)y some Indians, Avhere this event was said to have taken 
place. — Jefferson's notes on Virginia, (juery vi, and apfiendix. 

LORD (Joseph), first minister of Dorchester, South Carolina, 
was a native of Charlestov/n, Massachusetts, and was graduated at 
Harvard college in 1691. la the fall of 1695 ho was ordained pas- 
tor of the church, which was gathered in Dorchester, Massachu- 
setts, with the design of rem oving to South Carolina. They ai'- 
rived on the twentieth of December, and began a settlement on 



398 LOR. 

Ashley river about eighteen miles from Charleston. The sacra* 
mcnt of the Lord's supper was first administered in Carolina Feb- 
ruary 2,1696. Mr. Hugh Fisher succeeded Mr. Lord and died 
October 6, 1734. — Jlolmes' annals, ii. 34 ; Collect, hist.soc. ix. 156, 
157 ; Danforth's ser;«. on dcjiurl. Mr. Lord ; Guilder sleeve* s cent, 
eermon. 

LORD (Benjamin, d. d.), minister of Norwich, Connecticut, 
"was graauated at Yale college in 1714, and was afterwards a tutor 
in that seminary two years. He was ordained in October 1717 as 
successor of Mr. Woodward, who was the next minister after Mr. 
Fitch, and continuing his public labors about sixty years, he lived to 
see eight religious societies, which had grown out of the one, of 
which he had taken the charge. Two oUier parishes were formed 
at the time of his settlement. During the half century of his min- 
istry, ending in 1767, about a thousand persons had died, of whom 
the proportion in respect lo their ages was as follows ; 112 above 
the age of 70 ; 140 between 50 and 70 ; 154 between 30 and 50 ; 
140 between 20 and 30 ; 70 between 14 and 20 ; and 390 from in- 
fancy to 14. Of persons admitted to the church there were 330. 
The covenant was owned by 410, of whom 90 joined the church ; 
and 2050 were baptized. He died in April 1 784, aged ninety years, 
having been a man of distinction and a faithful, evangelical preacher. 
He published a discourse on the parable of the merchant man seek- 
ing goodly pearls, 1722 ; true Christianity explained, and enforced, 
1727 ; on the character, birth, and privileges of God'sjchildren, 
1742 ; an account of the extraordinary recovery of Mercy Wheel- 
er, 1743 ; election sermon, 1752 ; a funeral sermon on the rever- 
end Henry Willes, 1759 ; at the instalment of the reverend Sara- 
xiel Wliitaker, 1761 ; at the ordination of the reverend Levi Hart« 
1762 ; on the death of the reverend Hezekiah Lord, 1763 ; a half 
century discourse, preached November 29, 1767, being fifty years, 
reckoning by the Sundays, from his ordination ; a sermon on the 
death of H. Huntington, esquire, 1773 ; on the death of Mrs. 
Willes, 1774. 

LORING (Isuael), minister of Sudbury, Massachusetts, was 
born at Hull April 6, 1682, and was graduated at Harvard college 
in 1701. He was ordained at Sudbury November 20, 1706. A 
new church was formed in 1723, and William Cooke was settled as 
its pastor on the twentieth of March. Mr. Loring died March 9, 
1772, in the ninetieth year of his age, having preached on the first 
day of the month. He was a venerable man, of primitive piety and 
manners, and faithful and useful in his ministerial work. He had 
preached for near seventy years, and he was zealously attached to 
the doctrines of the ;j;ospel. He pu'jilshcd the nature and necessity 
of the new birth, preaciud at the Boston lecture 1728, with a preface 
by Mr. Prince ; a sermon on the death of the reverend Robeil 
Breck, 1731 ; on the torments of hell, 1732 ; election sermon. 1737 ; 



LOW, S99 

justification not by works, but by faith in Jesus Christ, 1749. — J5o«- 
ton gazette, March 23, 1772. 

LOWELL (John, ll. d.), a judge of the circuit court of the 
United States, was the son of the reverend Jolin Lowell, the first 
minister of the third church in Newbury, .who died May 15, 1767 
in the sixty fourth year of his age. He was graduated at Harvard 
college in the year 1760. When a new organization of the courts- 
of the United States took place in February 1 80 1 , he was appointed 
chief judge of the first circuit. He died at Roxbux'y May 6, 1802^ 
in the fifty ninth year of his age. Uniting to a vigorous mind^ 
which was enriched with literary acquisitions, a refined taste and: 
conciliatory manners, and being sincere in the profession and prac- 
tice of the Christian religion, his decease was deeply felt and la- 
mented. He pronounced before the American academy of arts 
and sciences in January 179 I an elegant eulogy on their late presi- 
dent, the honorable James Bowdoin, esquire, which is prefixed to 
the second volume of the memoirs of that society. — Columb. cent. 
May 8, 1802. 

MACCLINTOCK (Samuel, d.d.), minister of Greenland, 
New Hampshire, was born in Medford, Massachusetts, May 1,1732. 
His father was a native of Ireland. He was graduated at the col- 
lege in New Jersey in 1751. Being invited to become an assistant 
to the aged reverend William Allen of Greenland, he was ordained 
about the year 1757, and after a ministry of forty seven years he 
died April 27, 1804, in the seventy second year of his age. He 
was an eminent divine. Though he had no predilection for the 
field of controversy ; yet, when forced into it, he evinced himself a 
master of argument. An enemy to all civil and religious imposi- 
tions, during the late war he was repeatedly in the army in the 
character of a chaplain. His exhortations animated the soldiers to 
the conflict. Under afflictions he was submissive to the divine will. 
As he was averse to parade, he directed his funeral to be attended 
in a simple manner. He published a sermon on the justice of Gosl 
in the mortality of man, 1759 ; a sermon against the baptists, en- 
titled, the artifices of deceivers detected, and Christians warned 
against them, 1770 ; Herodias, or cruelty and revenge the effects 
of unlawful pleasure, 1772 ; a sermon at the commencement of the 
new constitution of New Hampshire, 1784; an epistolary corres- 
pondence between himself and the reverend John Cosens Ogden, 
1791 ; a sermon, entitled, the choice, occasioned by the drought, 
the fever, and the prospect of war, 1798 ; an oration commemora- 
tive of Washington, 1800. — Piscataqua euang, iiiag. i. 9 — 12. 

MACGREGORE (James), first minister of Londonderry, New 
Hampshire, formerly had the care of a Scot's presbyterian society 
in the North of Ireland. The sufferings of the protestants in that 
country and the inextinguishable desire of religious liberty im- 
pelled him with a number of other ministers and a part of their 



400 MAC. 

congregations to seek an asylum in America. He arrived at Bosp 
ton with about one hundred families October 14, 1718. In the fol- 
lowing year sixteen fumiiics settled on a tract of good iandrfiear 
Haverhill, which was called Nutfield, and which they named Lon- 
donderry. Mr. Macgregore, who since his arrival had preached at 
Dracut, was called to be their minister. He died March 5, 1729, 
aged fifty two years. His memory is still precious in Londonderry. 
He was a wise, affectionate, and faithful guide to his people both in 
civil and religious concerns. They brought with them every 
thing necessary for the manufacture of linen. They also introduced 
the culture of potatoes, which were first planted in the garden of 
Nathaniel Walker of Andover. Mr. Macgregore's son, David 
Macgregore, was minister of the second presbyterian church in 
Londonderry, and died May 30, 1777, in the sixty seventh year of 
his age and the forty second of his ministry. — Belkiiafi'a J^ew 
Hamfishire.) ii. 35 — 37, 41. 

M ACKLIN (Robert,) remarkable for longevity, was a native of 
Scotland, and died in Wakefield, New Hampshire, in 1787 at the 
age of one hundred and fifteen. He lived several years in Ports- 
mouth and followed the occupation of a baker. He frequently 
walked from Portsmouth to Boston, sixty six miles, in one day, 
and returned in another. This journey he performed the last 
time at the age of eighty.— 5f//.»a/i'ff J^ew Hamfishiref iii. 252. 

MACWHORTER (Alexander, d.d.), minister of Newark, 
New Jersey, was of Scotch extraction, and was born in the county 
of Newcastle, Delaware, July 26, 1734. His pious parents often ad- 
dressed him in private on religious subjects, and with tears of anxie- 
ty and affection entreated him to be reconciled unto God. In 1748 his 
mother removed to North Carolina, and here the labors of a faithful 
minister were the means of impressing him with the concerns of 
religion. Overwhelmed with a sense of his guilt and with the ter- 
rors of eternal judgment, he suffered indescribable distress for near 
three years ; but while a member of the school at W^est Notting- 
ham, Maryland, under the care of the reverend Mr, Finlcy, he foun^^ 
that consolation, which is imparted by the gospel to the peniteQ|A 
He was graduated in the college at Princeton, New Jersey, i^ 
1757. Having pursued the study of divinity under the instructioji 
of the reverend William Tennent, he was ordained July 4, 1759 
with a view of being employed upon a mission in North Carolina ; 
but he was installed in a few weeks at Newark, as tlie successor of 
Mr. Burr. In 1764 a mission, which he undertook to Carolina, 
gave him an opportunity to revisit his friends, but, being seized with 
a fever incident to that climate, his health was very much impaired 
for two vears. A journey to Boston however in 1766 was the 
means of its restoration. Being an active friend of his country in 
the time of the revolution, he v.'as induced in the summer of 17;78 
by the persuasion of his friend, general Kjiox, to become the chap- 



MAC. 401 

iain of his brigade, wliich was then at White Plains. As the suffer- 
ings of Newark by the war had so much reduced his salary, tliat it 
was inadequate for his support, he obtained a dismission from the 
church in that town in October 1779, and was settled in Charlotte, 
North Carolina. Here in a short time he again experienced the 
calamities of war. By the army of Cornwallis he lost his library 
and almost every thing, that he possessed. In April 178 I he was 
reinstated in his church at Newark, where he continued during the 
remainder of his life. At two seasons, in the years 1765 and 1773, 
he had seen with pleasure the deep interest in religious truth, 
which had been excited among his people ; but in 1784 his exer- 
tions were attended with a more remarkable revival of religion, and 
one hundred persons were added to his church. A' this time, so 
much was he occupied in his sacred work, that a part of every day 
was employed in imparting instruction, or enforcing Cliristian duty. 
In 1788 he assisted in settling the confession of faith andframingthe 
constitution of the presbyterian church in the United States. In the 
years 1796 and 1802 he was permitted again to rejoice in the effi- 
cacy of his benevolent labors, in the progress of holiness and virtue, 
and the increase of his church. After the destruction of the college 
of New Jersey by fire, he was requested to solicit benefactions in 
New England, and he procured more than seven thousand dollars. 
He died July 20, 1807, aged seventy three years, having been for 
near half a century a faithful servant of God in the gospel of his Son. 
His colleague, the reverend Mr. Griftin, survived him. His last 
hours were brightened with the hope of immortality. When re- 
minded, that the God, whom he had faithfully served, would not 
forsake him in his old age, he replied with apparent uneasiness, that 
" he had no faithfulness of his own to rely on ; that a review of his 
life afforded him little satisfaction ; that it had been miserably pol- 
luted ; and that his only hope rested on the atonement of Christ." 
His prospect of futurity was never clouded. At length, when the 
moment of his departure arrived, as one of his friends was praying 
by his bed side, he extended both his arms towards heaven at full 
length in the transports of faith and desire. His hands fell, and 
moved no more ; the difficulty of his respiration ceased, and in five 
minutes he breathed no more. 

Dr. Macwhovtcr was more remarkable for the penetration and 
vigor of his mind and the soundness of his judgment, than for a 
lively imagination. He was cool, deliberate, and cautious to a de- 
gree, that approached even to timidity. In nothing was he an 
enthu-siast, and he was incapable of being rash. His learning was 
very considerable, for while he was critically acquainted with the 
Greek and Latin, he had made considerable progress in the Hebrew, 
and had acquired some knowledge of the Syriac. He published a 
ftmeral sermon on governor Livingston, 1790; a sermon on the 
opening of a new presbyterian church in Newark, 1791 : thre^ 

52 



402 MAK. 

sermons in the American preacher, i. entitled, the salvation of sin- 
ners only by the blood of Jesus ; the influences of God as a sun the 
great consolation of his people ; the evil and dangers of security in 
sin ; sermons on true religion, on the b.irren fig tree, and on 
honesty in American preacher, iii ; and a volume of sermons, 8vo. 
— GW^'/i's funeral sermon ; Pannfilint iii, 48 1 — 489. 

MAKIN (Thomas), a poet, was one of the most early settlers of 
Pennsylvania. In the year 1689 he was usher to George Keith in 
the friend's public grammar school in Pennsylvania, and in the lol- 
lowing year succeeded him as master. He Avas lor some time 
clerk, of the provincial assembly, which was held in the friend's 
meeting house. He published two Latin poems in 1728 and 1729 
inscribed to James Logan, and entitled, encomium Pennsylvaniae, 
and in laudes Pennsylvaniae poema, seu descriptio Pennsylvaniae ; 
extracts from which are preserved in Proud's history of that prov- 
ince. — Proud, i. 345, 469 ; ii. 360 — 373. 

MALBONE (Edward G.), an eminent portrait painter, was a 
native of Newport, Rhode Island. At an early period of life he 
discovered a propensity for painting, which became at length so 
predominant, that he neglected every other amusement for its in- 
dulgence. When a school boy he delighted in drawing rude 
sketches of the objects of nature. As he obtained the necessary 
assistances to impiovement, his talents were developed. He fre- 
quented the theatre to contemplate the illusions of scenery j and 
by the regularity of his attentions behind the scenes in the forenoon, 
he attracted the notice of the painter, who discovered unusual genius 
in his young acquaintance and accepted his assistance with the 
brush. He was at length permitted to paint an entire, new scene, 
and as a reward received a general ticket of admission. His inter- 
vals of leisure at home were now employed in drawing heads, and 
afterwards in attempting portraits. His rapid progress in the latter 
occupation convinced him, that he had talents for it, and gave alac- 
rity to his exertions ; and he was soon induced to devote to it his 
whole attention. As he now began to be known and patronized as 
■A miniature painter, his natural propensity was nourished by the 
prospect of reputation and wealth. He visited the principal cities, 
and resided successively in New York, Philadelphia, and Boston. 
In the winter of 1800 he went to Charleston, where his talents and 
the peculiar amenity of his manners enhanced the attentions, which 
he received from the hospitality of its inhabitants. In May 180! 
he s died fioni Charleston to London, where he resided some months, 
absorbed in admiration of the paintings of celebrated masters. 
With a naind improved by study and observation, and animated by 
the enthusiasm of genius, he visited the diHcrent galleries of living 
])ainters, enlarging his ideas and profiting by the contemplation of 
their works. He was introduced to the acquaintance of the presi- 
dent of the royal academy, who gave him IVcc access to his stitdr, 



MAN. 403 

and showed him those marked and friendly attentions, which were 
more flattering than empty praises to the mind of his young coun- 
tryman. He even encouraged him to remain in England, assuring 
him, that he had nothing to fear from professional competition. 
But he preferred his own country, and returned to Charleston in 
the winter of 1801. He afterwards continued his pursuits in dif- 
ferent parts of the continent, always finding employment. By his 
sedentary haoits and intense application to his professional labors 
his health was so much impaired, that in the summer of 1806 he 
was compelled to relinquish his pencil, and indulge in exercise ; 
but his frame had become too weak to be again invigorated. As he 
felt the symptoms of an approaching consumption, his physicians 
advised him to try the effect of a change of climate. In the be- 
ginning of winter he therefore took a passage in a vessel for Jamai- 
ca ; but the change not producing much benefit, he returned 
to Savannah, where he languished till his death, May 7, 1807. 

Mr. Malbone was permitted for but a few years to copy the fea- 
tures of life ; but though he had not reached all the perfection, 
which maturer years would have given, yet his pencil will rescue 
his name from oblivion. His style of painting was chaste and cor- 
rect, his coloring clear and judiciously wrought, and his taste alto- 
gether derived from a just contemplation of nature. In hia female 
heads particularly there was, when his subjects permitted, en- 
chanting delicacy and beauty. To his professional excellence he 
added the virtues, which endeared him to his friends. His heart 
was warm and generous. The profits of his skill, which were very 
considerable, contributed to the happiness of his relations ; and as 
their welfare was an object, which seemed always to animate his 
exertions, his mother and sisters deeply deplored his death. Though 
unable to devote much time to reading, he by no means neglected 
the improvement of his intellect. He had perused with taste and 
attention many of the most approved English authors, and with a 
mind naturally acute and discriminating selected and retained what 
he read — -Al-w York keraid^ June 3, 1807 ; Boston mirror., January 
7, 1809. 

MANLY (John), a captain in the navy of the United States, 
received a naval commission from Washington, commander in 
chief of the American forces, October 24, 1775. Invested with 
the command of the schooner Lee, he kept the hazardous station of 
Massachusetts bay during a most tempestuous season, and the cap- 
tures, which he made, were of immense value at the moment. An 
ordnance brig, which fell into his hands, supplied the continental 
army with heavy pieces, mortars, and working tools, of which it was 
very destitute, and in the event led to the evacuation of Boston. 
His services were the theme of universal eulogy. Being raised to 
the command of the frigate Hancock of thirty two guns, his cap- 
ture of the Fox increased his high reputation for bravery and skil! 



404 MAN. 

But he was taken prisoner ivith his prize by the Rainbow of 
forty guns July 8, 1777, and suffered a long and rigorous confine- 
ment on board that ship at Halifax, and in Mill prison, precluded 
ironi further actual service till near the close of the war. In Sep- 
tember 1782 the Hague frigate was entrusted to his care. The 
cruise was peculiarly luihappy. A few days after leaving Marti- 
■uique he was driven by a British seventy four on a sand bank at the 
back of Ciaudaloupe. Tlu-ee ships of the line having joined this 
ship, came too within point blank shot, and with springs on their 
cables opened a most tremendous fire. Having supported the 
heavy cannonade for three days, on the fourth day the frigate was 
got oft', and hoisting the continental standard at the main top gallant 
mast, thirteen guns were fired in farewell defiance. On his return 
to Boston a few months afterwards, he was arrested to answer a va- 
riety of charges exhibited against him by one of his officers. The 
proceedings of the court were not altogether in approbation of his 
conduct. Memoirs of his life, which should vindicate his character, 
were promised, but they have never appeared. He died in Boston 
Februai-y 12, 1793, in the sixtieth year of his age, and was buried 
with distinction. — Columbiaii centinel., February I6i and 20, 1793; 
Holmes' annals, u. 488 ; Boston gazette, August 1 1, 1777 ; Indefiend. 
chronicle, Sefitember 26, 1777 ; Marshall, ii. 258 ; Gordon, ii. 144 ; 
iii. 153. 

MANNING (James, d. d.), first president of the college in 
Rhode Island, was born in Ncav Jersey October 22, 1738, and was 
graduated at Nassau hall in 1762. When he began to preach a 
number of his baptist brethren in New Jersey and Pennsylvania 
contemplated the establishment of a college in Rhode Island on ac- 
count of the religious freeidom, which was tlicre enjoyed, and di- 
rected their attention towards him as its president. The charter 
was obtained in Fel)r«ary 1764, and in 1765 he removed to Warren 
to make preparations for carrying the design into execution. In 
September the seminary was opened, and it was soon replenished 
with students. In 1770 the institution was removed to Providence, 
where a spacious building had been erected. He was soon chosen 
pastor of the baptist church in that town, and he continued in the 
discharge of the duties of these two offices, except in an interval of 
about six months in 1786, when he was a member of congress, till 
his death July 29, 1791, in the fifty third year of his age. Dr. 
Manning was of a kind ana benevolent disposition, social and com- 
municative, and fitted rather for active life than for retirement. 
Though he possessed good abilities, he was prever.ted from in- 
tense study by the peculiarity of his constitution. His life was a 
scene of labor for the benefit of others. His piety and his fervent 
zeal in preaching the gospel evinced his love to God and man. 
With a dignified and majestic appearance, his address was manly, 
familiar, and engaging. In the government of the college he was 



MAR. 405 

mikl yet energetic— Mzorcv'* fun. ser7non ; Hardie^s biog. diet, t 
Backus, iii 47 — 49, 219 — 222 ; Miller, ii. 375. 

MARION (Francis), a brave officer in the revolutionary war, 
was an inhabitant of South Carolina, and after commanding a regi- 
ment was promoted by governor Rutledge to the rank of brigadier 
general in 1780. On the advance of Gates, he placed himself at 
the head of sixteen men, and captured a small British guard, rescu- 
ing a hundred and fifty continental prisoners. As the militia was 
in no subordination, sometimes he had not more than a dozen men 
with him. On the fourth of September he marched with fifty three 
men to attack a body of two hundred tories. He first surprised a 
party of forty five, killing and wounding all but fifteen, and then put 
the main body of two hundred to flight. His conduct was most 
generous as well as brave. Not one house was burned by his or- 
ders, for he detested making war upon poor women and children. 
At one time he was obliged to convert the saws of sawmills into 
horsemen's swords for his defence. For months he and his party 
slept in the open air, and sheltered themselves in the thick recesses 
of swamps, whence they sallied out and karrassed the enemy. Af- 
ter having rendered ii.">portant services to his country, he died 
in South Carolina in 1795. — Ramsay's S. C. ii. 176, 229 ; Gordon^ 
iii. 454— .457 ; iv. 46, 81 ; Holmes' annals, ii. 494. 

MARSH (Ebenezer Grant), professor of languages and ec- 
clesiastical history in Yale college, was the son of the reverend Johij 
Marsh of Wethersfield, and v/as graduated at New Haven in 1795. 
Residing at the college in that town to prosecute his studies, he was 
in 1793 elected an instructer in the Hebrew language, and in 1799^ 
one of the tutors. In 1802 he was elected a professor; but the 
hopes, which had been excited by his talents and unequalled indus- 
try, were blasted, and his increasing usefulness was terminated by 
his death November 16, 1803, in the twenty seventh year of his age. 
He was a man of amiable manners, pure morals, and unquestioned 
piety. As a preacher of the gospel he was uncommonly acceptable. 
His literary acquisitions were great. Besides an accurate acquaint- 
ance with the Latin and Greek he was familiar with the Hebrew. 
Theology, history, and oriential literature had occupied much of 
his attention. It was his practice to make copious extracts from 
the books, which he read. He had made considerable progress in 
collecting materials for an American biography. He published r 
catalogue of the historical writers of this country, entitled, a series 
of American historians fiom the first discovery of this country to 
the present time, 1801 ; and an elaborate oration, delivered before 
the American academy of arts and sciences in 1802, designed to 
confirm the truth of scripture history by the testimony of eastern 
writers. This, it is believed, Avith improA'ements, was a posthu- 
mous publication. — Dvjight's and Daiia's sermons, and Foivler's ora-^ 
tion onhis death ; Collect, hist. soc. ix. 108 — 1 1 1 ; Ma^sa. n?ffi.9. rr:ctr. 
ji. 209—2 11. 



406 MAH. 

MARYLAND, one of the United States of America, was granted 
by king Charles 1 to Cecilius Calvert, lord Baltimore, June 20, 
1632. It received its name in honor of the queen iienrieita Ma- 
ria, daughter of Henry tlie great, kuig of France. It was tne hrst 
colony, which was erected into a province of the British empire, 
and governed by laws enacted in a provincial legislature. The 
proprietor arrived in February 1634, and in March at the head of 
about two hundred Roman catfiolics he took possession ot the terri- 
tory, which had been granted Ivim. Lord Baltimore, himself a Ro- 
man catholic, established his province on the basis of perlect free- 
dom in religion and security to pi'operty. The land was purchased 
of the Indians for a consideration, which seemed to be satisfactory. 
Fifty acres of land were given to every emigrant in al;solute fee. 
A collection of regulations was prepared by the assembly in 
.1638. The province was divided into baronies and manors, and 
bills were passed for settling the glebe, and for securing the liber- 
ties of the people. A house of assembly, composed of represen- 
tatives, was established in 1639, and a code of laws was passed. 
AH the inhabitants were required to take the oath of allegiance to 
the king, and the rights of the proprietary were acknowledged. 
At this period the colony was very inconsiderable in numbers and 
wealth, for a general contribution was thought necessary to erect a 
water mill for the use of the colony. Slavery seems to have existed 
at the time of its original settlement. The encroachments of the 
English awakened the apprehensions of the natives, that they should 
be annihilated as a people, and an Indian war commenced in 1642, 
which lasted several years, and which brought with it the usual suf- 
ferings. After a peace was made, salutary regulations were adopted, 
securing to the Indians their rights. A rebellion in Maryland in 
1645, produced by a few restless men, obliged the governor to flee 
into Virginia ; but it was suppressed in the following year. The con- 
stitution was established in 1646, and it continued with little inter- 
ruption till 1776. The parliament of England assumed the gov- 
ernment of Maryland in 1652, and witlun a few years after this 
event an act was passed, declaring, that none, who professed the 
popish religion, should he protected in the province. The contrast 
between this act and the previous one of the Roman catholics re- 
flects the highest honor on the liberality of the latter. The author- 
ity of the proprietary was reestablished at the restoration, and he 
appointed a governor. In 1662 the prosperity of the province was 
considerably checked by the incursions of the Janadoa Indians ; but 
by the aid of the Susquehannahs they Avere repelled. The gov- 
ernment experienced a variety of changes, being sometimes in the 
possession of the crown, and sometimes in the hands of the propri- 
etary. In 1716 it was restored to the proprietary, and it was no^ 
again taken away until the late revolution. Maryland was not be- 
hind her sister states in her efforts to support the violated rights of 



MAS. -40^ 

;his country in the struggle, which terminated in the separation of 
the colonies from Great Britain. A convention, which met at An- 
napolis in July 1775, drew up a form of association to be signed by 
all the freemen of the province. This state did not adopt the arti- 
cles of the confederation till March 1, 1781. The present consti- 
tution of Maryland was formed in August 1776. It establishes a 
general assembly, consisting of a house of delegates, who are chosen 
annually, and of a senate, the members of which are elected every 
five years by electors, appointed by the people for that purpose. 
The governor is elected annually by a joint vote of both houses, and 
is incapable of continuing in office more than three years succes- 
sively, and not eligible again until the expiration of four years after 
he has left the office. — Morse's geog. ; Wynne's Brit, empire, i. 236 
— 241 ; Holmes' annals, i. 265, 274, 351, 358 ; Chalmers. 

MASASSOIT, sachem of the Wompaneags, lived at Pokanoket 
on Narraganset bay, when the fii'st settlers of New England arrived 
at Plymouth in 1620. He was their early and their constant friend. 
In the spring of 1621 he made a treaty with governor Carver, the 
articles of which he always regarded. He died about the year 1 655, 
and was succeeded by his son Alexander. A short time before his 
death, while the English were treating with him respecting some 
of his lands at Swansey, he at first insisted upon the condition, that 
no attempts should ever be made to convert his people to Christian- 
ity. — Belknap's Amer. biog. ii. 212, 229, 290 ; Hutchinson, i. 276; 
Prince, 101, 102 ; Holmes' annals, i. 208 — 2 1 1 ; Morton, 26. 

MASON (John), a brave soldier, and author of the history of 
the Pequot war, was born in England about the year 1600. He 
was bred to arms in the Netherlands under sir Thomas Fairfax, 
whose good opinion he so much conciliated, that after his arrival in 
this coimtry, when the struggle arose in England between king 
Charles I and the parliament, sir Thomas addressed a letter to 
Mason, requesting him to join his standard and give his assistance 
to those, who were contending for the liberties of the people. The 
invitation however was declined. Captain Mason was one of the 
first settlers of Dorchester, Massachusetts, being one of the compa- 
ny of Mr. Warham in 1630. From this place he removed to 
Windsor in Connecticut about the year 1635, and assisted in laying 
the foundation of a new colony. The Pequot war, in which he was 
so distinguished, was in the year 1637. The Pequot Indians were 
a spirited and warlike nation, who lived near New London, In 1634 
a tribe, which was in confederacy with them, murdered a captain 
Stone and a captain Norton with their crew of eight men, and then 
sunk the vessel. A part of the plunder was received by Sassacus, 
the Pequot sachem. In 1636 the Pequots killed a number of men 
at Saybrook, where there was a garrison of about twenty men ; in 
consequence of which captain Mason was sent down the river by Con- 
necticut colony in March 1637 for the relief of the fort. He it- 



408 MAS. 

mained tlicre a month, but not an Indian was to be seen. In Aprri 
the Pcquots killed nine of the English at Wethersfield, and destroyed 
much property. The colony was now reduced to a most lamentable 
condition. The inhabitants were in number but about two hundred 
and fifty, and most of the men were needed for the labor of the 
plantations. Many of the cattle had been lost from the want of hay or 
corn ; there were perhaps not five ploughs in the colony ; and the 
people were suffering for want of provisions. They were at the 
same time so harrassed by a powerful enemy, that they could nei- 
ther hunt, fish, nor cultivate their fields, but at the peril of their 
lives. They were obliged to keep a constant watch. At this cii- 
sis a court was summoned at Hartford on the first of IMay. Besides 
the six magistrates, there were also committees from the few towns 
in the colony to compose the court. As the Pequots had killed 
about thirty and were endeavoring to effect a union of all the In- 
dians in a plan for the extirpation of the English, it was determined, 
that an offensive war should be carried on against them, and that 
ninety men should immediately be raised, forty two from Hartford, 
thirty from Windsor, and eighteen from Wethersfield. The little 
army under the command of captain Mason, with the reverend 
Mr. Stone for their chaplain, fell down the river on the tenth, and 
arrived at Saybrook on the seventeenth. They had united with 
them about seventy Indians under the command of Uncas, sachem 
of the Moheagans.vvho had lately revolted from Sassacus. At Say- 
brook captain Mason and his officers were entirely divided in opin- 
ion respecting the manner of prosecuting their enterprise. The 
court had directed the landing of the men at Pequot harbor, from 
whence they were to advance upon the enemy ; but captain Mason 
was of opinion, that they should sail past the Pequot country to 
Narraganset, and then return and take the enemy by surprise. 
This opinion was a proof of his discernment and military skill. The 
Pequots were expecting them at the harbor, where they kept a 
watch day and night ; and the place was encompassed by rocks and 
thickets, affording the Indians, who were the more numerous, every 
advantage. It would be difficult to Uind, and if a landing was effect- 
ed it would be difficult to approach the enemy's forts without being 
much harrassed, and giving an opportunity for all of them to escape 
If they were unwilling to fight. Besides by going first to Narragan- 
set the hope was indulged, that some accession to their force might 
be procui'ed. Tliese reasons weighed much with captain Mason, 
but not with the other officers, who were afraid to exceed their 
commission. In this perplexity the reverend Mr. Stone was desir- 
ed to seek wisdom from above. Having spent most of Thursday 
night in prayer on board the pink, in the morning he went on shore 
and ttjld captain Mason he was entirely satisfied with his plan. The 
council v/as again called, and the plan was adopted. On Saturday 
the twentieth thev arrived at Narraganset ; but the wind was so 



MAS. 409 

unfiivoruble, that they could not land until Tuesday at sun set. He 
immediately marched to the residence of the sachem, Miuntonimoh, 
and disclosed to him the object, which he had in view. Two hun- 
dred of the Narraganscts joined him, and on Wednesday they 
marched about eighteen or twenty miles to the eastern Nihantick, 
which was a frontier to the Pequots. Here was the seat of one of 
the Narraganset sachems, who was so unfriendly, that he would not 
suffer any of the English to enter the fort. A strong guard -was in 
consequence placed round it, that none of the Indians should come 
out, and alarm the Pequots. The little army continued its march 
on Thursday, having in its train about five hundred Indians. In 
the evening they reached the neighborhood of the Pequot fort at 
Misdc. The army encamped, being exceedingly fatigued in con- 
sequence of the heat and the want of necessaries. The guards, who 
were advanced considerably in front, heard the enemy singing until 
midnight. It was a time of rejoicing with them, as they had seen 
the vessels pass a few days before and concluded that the English 
had not courage to attack them. About two hours beforeday on the 
morning of Friday, the twenty sixth of May, the captain assembled 
his men, and prepared himself for determining the fate of Connecti- 
cut. The blessing of God was briefly and devoutly implored. 
With less than eighty brave men he marched forward, the Indians, 
who were much afraid, having fallen in the rear. He told them to stay 
behind atwhat distance they pleased, and to see whether Englishmen 
would not fight. As captain Mason approached within a rod of the 
fort, a dog barked, and an Indian roared out, Owanux ! Owanux I 
[^Englishmen 1 Englishmen !] The troops pressed on, and having 
fired upon the Indians through the pallisadoes, entered the fort at the 
principal entrance, sword in hand. After a severe conflict, in which 
a number of the enemy were killed, victory was still doubtful, for the 
Indians concealed themselves in and about their wigwams, and from 
their retreats made good use of their arrows. At this crisis the cap- 
tain cried out to his men, " we must burn them" ; and seizing a fire 
brand in one of the wigwams set fire to the mats, with which they 
were covered. In a short time all the wigwams were wrapped in 
flames. Captain Mason drew his men without the fort, encompass- 
ing it completely ; and the sachem, Uncas, with his Indians and 
such of the Narragansets as remained, took courage and formed 
another circle in the rear. The enemy were now thrown into the 
utmost terror. Some climbed the pallisadoes and were brought 
down by the fire of the muskets ; others were so bewildered, that 
they rushed into the very flames. A number collected to the wind- 
ward and endeavored to defend themselves with their arrows, and 
about forty, of the boldest issued forth and were cut down by the 
swords af the English. In a little more than an hour the whole 
work of destruction was completed. Seventy wigwams w§re burn- 
ed and six hundred Indians perished. Seven rscapcd, and seven 



410 MAS. 

were taken prisoners. Two only of the English were killed, and 
sixteen wounded. The victory was complete, but the army was in 
great danger and distress. So many were wounded and worn down 
by fatigue, that only about forty could be spared to contend with the 
remaining enemy. In about an hour three hundred Indians came 
on from the other fort ; but captain Mason led out a chosen party 
and checked their onset. It was determined to march immediately 
for Pequot harbor, into which a few minutes before, to their unut- 
terable joy, they had seen their vessels enter, guided by the hand 
of providence. When the march commenced the Indians advanc- 
ed to the hill, on which the fort had stood. The desolation, which 
here presented itself to their view, filled them with rage ; they 
stamped and tore their hair in the transports of passion ; and rush- 
ing do%vn the hill with great fury seemed determined to -avenge 
themselves on the destroyers of their brethren. But the superior- 
ity of fire arms to their bows and arrows kept them at a distance. 
Captain Mason reached the harbor in safety ; and putting his 
wounded aboard, the next day marched by land to Saybrook with 
about twenty men. His safe return, and the success, which attend- 
ed the expedition, filled the wnole colony with joy and thanksgiving. 
Several providential events were particularly noticed. It was 
thought remarkable, that the vessels should come into the harbor 
at the very moment, when they were so much needed. As captain 
Mason entered a wigwam for fire to burn the fort, an Indian was 
drawing an arrow to the very head, and would have killed him in- 
stantly, had not one Davis at this critical moment cut the bowstring 
with his sword. So completely was the object of the expedition 
effected, that the remaining Pequots were filled with such terror, 
that they burned their wigwams and fled from their abode. The 
greatest part of them went towards New York. Captain Mason 
was sent out to pursue them, and he took one hundred prisoners 
of the old men, women, and children. The rest, about two hundred 
in number, soon submitted themselves, engaging never to live in 
their country again, and becoming subject to the sachem of Mohe- 
agans and Narragansets with the disgraceful necessity of never 
again being called Pequots. 

Soon after this war captain Mason was appointed by the govern- 
ment of Connecticut major general of all their forces, and contin- 
ued in this office till his death. He remained a magistrate, to which 
station he was first chosen in 1642, till May 1660, when he was 
elected deputy governor. In this office he continued ten years, till 
May 1670, when his infirmities induced him to retire from public 
life. After the Pequot war, at the request of the inhabitants of 
Saybrook and for the defence of the colony he removed from Wind- 
sor to that place in 1647. Thence hi 1659 he removed to Norwich, 
where he died in 1672 or 1673 in the seventy third year of his age. 
Major Mason held the same reputation for military talents in Con- 



MAS. 411 

necticut, which captain Standish held in Plymouth colony. Both 
rendered the most important services to their country. Both were 
bred to arms in the Dutch Netherlands. Captain Standish was of 
short stature, but major Mason was tall and portly, and equally dis- 
tinguished for his courage and vigor. He was also a gentleman of 
prudence and correct morals. At the request of the general court 
he drew up and published a brief history of the Pequot war. It is 
reprinted in Dr. Increase Mather's relation of troubles by the In- 
• dians, 1677. It was also republished more correctly, with an in- 
troduction and some explanatory notes, by the reverend Thomas 
Prince in 1736. — Introduction to Mason's history ; TruinhuU'a hist. 
»/ Connecticut^ i. 68 — 87, 337 ; Holmes' annals^ i. 292 — 294. 

MASON (Georgk), an eminent statesman of Virginia, was a 
member of the general convention, which in 1787 framed the con- 
stitution of the United States, but refused to sign his name, as one 
of that body, to the instrument, which tliey had produced. In the 
following year he was a member of the Virginia convention, which 
considered the proposed plan of federal government. He united 
with Henry, and opposed its adoption with great energy. He thought, 
that the confederation was about to be converted into a consolidated 
government, for which, he said, many of the members of the general 
convention avowed an attachment ; and he was desirous of introduce 
ing amendments. He contended for the necessity of an article, 
reserving to the states, all powers not delegated. This article is 
now among the amendments of the constitution. He wished also, 
that there should be a limitation to the continuance of \he presi- 
dent in office. So averse was he to that section, which allowed 
the slave trade for twenty years, that, attached as he was to the 
union of all the States, he declared that he would not admit the southv 
ern states into the union unless they would agree to discontinue the 
traffic. He died at his seat at Gunston Hall, Virginia in the autumn 
of 1792, aged sixty seven years. — Virginia debates^ sec. edit. 13, 32 j 
302, 306, 3 1 3, 343, 350, 361, 370, 372. 

MASSACHUSETTS, one of the Utiited States of America, 
was formerly divided into the two colonies of Plymouth and of 
Massachusetts bay, which were distinct for many years. Plymouth 
was first settled in December 1620 by person.^, who intended to 
commence a plantation in the territory of the south Virginia com- 
pany, but who on account of the advanced season of the year were 
induced to establish themselves, where they first landed. They 
formed a government for themselves, and chose Mr. Carver for 
;heir governor. In 1620 all the land from sea to sea between the 
fortieth and forty eighth degrees of north latitude was granted to 
the council at Plymouth in England. From this company a patent 
was obtained in 162 1 . For several years the v/hole property of the 
colony was in common. The governor, v/ho was chosen annual- 
ly, had at first buit one assistai^t ; in 1624 he had five j and in 16S3 



412 MAS. 

the number was increased to seven. The labt patent was obtained 
in 1630, by which the colonists were allowed to establish their own 
government. The first house of representatives was formed in 
1639, being rendered necessary by the increase of the inhabitants 
and the extension of the settlements. The patent of Massachu- 
setts bay was obtained in 1628. This colony was bounded on the 
south by a line three miles distant from Charles' river, which pass- 
es between Cambridge and Boston. In the same year a few peo- 
ple un ler the government of John Endicot began a settlement at 
Naumkeak, now Salem. In 1629 a form of government was set- 
tled, and thirteen persons, resident on the plantation, were entrust- 
ed with the sole management of the affairs of the colony. Of these 
persons one was the governor and twelve were counsellors. All 
these were but deputy officers, as tliey were appointed by the gov- 
ernor and company in England. This state of things however last- 
ed but a short time. It was soon determined to transfer the gov- 
ernment entirely to New England. Governor Winthrop accord- 
ingly came over in 1630 with about fifteen hundred persons, bring- 
ing the charter with him. This instrument vested the whole exec- 
utive power in the governor, deputy governor, &nd eighteen assist- 
ants, and the legislative power in a general court, composed of the 
above and of the freemen of the colony. This assembly was au- 
thorized to elect their governor and all necessary officers. But the 
provisions of the charter were not very carefully observed. The 
emigrants, considering themselves as subject to no laws excepting 
those of reason, and equity, and scripture, modelled their govern- 
ment according to their own pleasure. Early in 1631 the general 
court ordained, that the governor, deputy governor, and assistants 
should be chosen by the freemen alone ; they directed that there 
should be two courts instead of four in a year ; in May 1634 they 
created a representative body ; they established judicatories of va- 
rious kinds ; and in 164 t the general court was divided into the 
two houses of deputies and of magistrates, each of which was to 
send its acts to the other for approbation. The assistants and the 
general court for four years often judged and punished in a sum- 
mary Avay without a jury, and Avithin three years after it was enact- 
ed, that there should be no trial, which should affect life or residence 
in the country, without a jury of freemen, the general court violated 
this law in passing sentence of banishment in 1637. Massachusetts 
continued to increase till the Indian war of 1675 and 1676, which 
occasioned great distress. About six hundred of the inhabitants of 
New England were killed, and twelve or thirteen towns were en- 
tirely destroyed ; and thi'^ colony was the greatest sufferer. In 
1684 the charter of Massachusetts was declared to be forfeited by 
the high court of chancery in England in consequence of well 
founded charges of disrespect to the laws of England, and of ten- 
?!encics towards exercising the rights of a free state. In 1 686 Jo« 



MAS. 413 

seph Dudley feceived his commission of president of New Eng- 
land though Plymouth was not included ; but at the close of 
the year Andros arrived with a commission, which included that 
colony. In 1689 this tyrannical governor was deposed and impris- 
oned by an indignant people, mid Massachusetts and Plymouth 
reestablished their old government. In 1692 a charter was obtain- 
ed, which constituted Massachusetts a province, and added to it 
the colony of Plymouth, the province of Maine, the province of 
Nova Scotia, and the Elisabeth islands, and Nantucket and Mar- 
tha's Vineyard. From this period Massachusetts and Plym- 
outh were blended, and under one government. This new char- 
ter greatly abridged the liberties of the people. Formerly they 
had chosen their governor ; but now the appointment of the 
governor, lieutenant governor, secretary, and all the officers of 
adaiirality was vested in the crown. Other important changes 
were made. This charter continued till the late revolution. Du- 
ring the attempts of Shute, Burnet, and other governors to pro- 
cure a fixed salary, which should make them indeperdent of the 
people, the general court showed a determinaton to prevent the 
removal of any barrier against tyranny. While the claims of 
British taxation were discussed from the year 1765 till the com- 
mencement of the war, Massachusetts was conspicuous for the 
unshaken and persevering spirit, with which the cause of lib- 
erty was supported. In October 1774 a provincial congress as- 
sumed the government, and in July 1775 elected counsellors, a.^ 
as under the old charter. The present constitution was formed by 
a convention in March 1780. By this instrument the legislative 
powers are vested in a general court, consisting of a senate and a 
house of representatives, annually chosen, which have a negative 
upon each other; and no act can he passed without the approbation 
of the governor, unless after a revisal two thirds of both branches 
are in favor of it. The governor is chosen every year by the peo- 
ple, and he has a council composed of the lieutenant governor, and 
nine others, chosen by the general court, without whose advice he 
can exercise none of his powers, except such as are incident to his 
office of commander in chief. In 1786 there was an insvirrection 
in Massachusetts, occasioned by the scarcity of money and the 
pressure of taxes and of debts to individuals. A convention from 
fifty towns in Hampshire county met at Hatfield in August and 
drew up a catalogue of grievances. In the same month a body of 
insurgents took possession of the court house in Northampton ; 
and in a short time the fiame of open opposition to government was 
enkindled in other counties. But the rebellion was suppressed in 
1787 with the loss of but few lives. Since then internal peace has 
existed. — Morton ; Prince ; Winthrofi ; Hutchinson ; Minot ; Gor- 
don ; JVeal'f!^ Adamn'^ and Morse and Pari^fi'n X, E. : Hc/;m* cr?- 
nals. 



414 MAT. 

MATHER (Richard), minister of Dorchester, Massachusetts, 
was born in Lancashire, England, in 1596. At the age oi fiitecn he 
was invited to take the instruction of a school at Toxteth, neui Liv- 
erpool. After suffering for some time that anxiety and disticssj 
which the knowledge of his own character as a sinner produced, he 
in his eighteenth year found peace and joy in the gospel of the Re- 
deemer. In May 1618 he was admitted a student of Oxford ; but 
in a few months afterwards he became the minister of 'J'oxteth, be- 
ing ordained by the bishop of Chester. Here he continued about 
fifteen years without any interruption of his benevolent labors. He 
preached every Tuesday at Prescot, and he always seized the op- 
portunity, which his attendance upon funerals aflbrded, for impart- 
ing instruction to the living. He was silenced for nonconformity 
to the established church in 1633, but through the influence of his 
friends was soon restored. He was again suspended in 1634, as he 
had never worn the surplice, and could not adopt the ceremonies, 
which were enjoined. Having resolved to seek the peaceable en- 
joyment of the rights of conscience and the purity of Christian 
ordinances in New England, he escaped the pursuivants, who were 
endeavoring to apprehend him, and embarked at Bristol in May 

1635. On the seventeenth of August he arrived in Boston harbor. 
He was in a few months invited to Dorchester ; and, as the first 
church had removed with Mr. Warham to Windsor, a new church 
was formed, of which he was constituted the teacher August 23, 

1636. He assisted Mr. Eliot and Mr. Welde in 1640 in making 
the New England version of the psalms. The model of church 
discipline, which he presented to the synod of 1648, was the one, 
which was chiefly adopted in preference to those, prepared by Mr. 
Cotton and Mr. Partridge. He died in the peace of the Christian, 
April 22, 1669, aged seventy three years. Though in his old age he 
experienced many innrniities, yet such had been his health, that 
for half a century he was not detained by sickness so much as one 
Sunday from his public labors. He was a pious Christian, a good 
scholar, and a plain, and useful preacher. He was careful to avoid 
foreign and obscure words, and unnecessary citation of Latin sen- 
tences, that all might understand him. While his voice was loud 
and distinct, there was also a vehemency and dignity in his manner. 
By his flrst wife he had a number of sons, who were distinguished 
ministers. His second wife was the widow of the famous John 
Cotton. He wrote the discourse about the church covenant, 
and the answer to thirty two (juestiorts, published in 1639, which 
pass under the name of the ciders of New England. He wrote al- 
so a modest and brotherly answer to Mr. Charles Herle's book 
against the indepenxlency of churches, 1644 ; a reply to Mr. Ruth- 
erford, or a defence of the answer to Mr. Herle's book, 1646 ; an 
heart melting exhortaiion, 8cc. in a letter to his countrymen of Lan- 
cashire, 1650 ; a catechism ; a treatise of justification, 1652 j a 



MAT. 415 

letter to Mr. Hooker to prove, that it was lawful for a uiinlster to 
administer the sacrament to a cong^regation, not particularly under 
his care; election sermon about 1660; an answer to Mr. Daven- 
port's work against the propositions of the synod of 1662. He also 
prepared for the press sermons on the second epistle of Peter, and 
an elaborate defence of the churches of New England. — Wood's 
AtheTKC Oxonienses, ii. 427, 428 ; Magnalia, iii. 122 — 130 ; Collect, 
hist. soc. viii. 10 ; ix. 170 — 172 ; JYeal's JV. E. i. 385 ; Hutchinson, 
i. 259 ; Clarke^s lives ; I. Mather's account of his life afid death. 

MATHER (Samuel), minister of Dublin, Ireland, was the son 
of the preceding, and was born in Lancashire May 13, 1626. Ac- 
companying his father to this country, he was graduated at Har- 
vard college in 1 643. He was appointed the first fellow of the col- 
lege and he was held in such estimation by the students, whom he 
instructed, that when he left them they put on badges of mourning. 
When he began to preach, he spent some time in Rowley as an as- 
sistant to Mr. Rogers. A church having been gathered in the 
north part of Boston, he was invited to take the charge of it ; but 
after preaching there one winter, several circumstances induced 
him to go to England in 1650. The church, which he left, was 
afterwards under the pastoral care of his brother, Dr. Increase 
Mather. In England he was appointed chaplain of Magdalen col- 
lege, Oxford. He then preached two years at Leith in Scotland. 
Thence he went to Ireland in 1655 and was made a senior fellow 
of Trinity college, Dubliri. Here also he was settled the minister 
of the church of St. Nicholas, as colleague with Dr. Winter. Though 
he was a most liberal nonconformist, and refused several benefices, 
that were offered by the lord deputy, because he did not wish to 
have the episcopalian ministers displaced ; yet soon after the res- 
toration he was suspended on a charge of sedition. Returning to 
England, he was minister at Burton wood till he was ejected by the 
Bartholomew act in 1662. He afterwards gathered a church at his 
ovm house in Dublin, where he died in peace October 29, 1671, in 
the forty sixth year of his age. He was succeeded by his brother, 
Mr. Nathaniel Mather. As a preacher he held the first rank, and 
his name was known throughout the kingdom. His discourses were 
remarkable for cleai'ness of method. It was his constant desire to ex- 
alt the Lord Jesus Christ, and to promote the objects, for which he 
died. He published a wholesome caveat for a time of liberty, 1652 ; 
a defence of the protestant religion against popery, 1671; an ireni- 
cum, or an essay for union among the presbyterians, independents, 
and anabaptists ; a treatise against stinted liturgies ; a piece against 
Valentine Greatarick, who pretended to cure diseases by stroking ; 
a course of sermons on the types of the old testament, with some 
discourses against popish superstitions. — Wcr,d\3 Athena Oxonien'- 
««-«, ii. 489, 490; Mather's nwgnalia, iv. 143 — 153; Nonconform, 
jnemorial, ii. S5 5 — 357; Mai's .Y. E. i. 385 ; Collect, hist. soc. ix. 
17^. 179 ; Colannrs pcrovnt^ ii. 415 — 417. 



416 MAT. 

MATHER (Nathaniel), minister in London, was the son of 
the reverend Richard Mather, and was born in Lancaster March 
20, 1630. After his arrival in this country with his father, he was 
educated at Harvard college, where he was graduated in 1647. He 
afterwards went to England, and was presented to the living at 
Barnstaple by Oliver Cromwell in 1656. Upon his ejectment in 
1662 he went into Holland and was a minister at Rotterdam. A- 
bout the year 1671 or 1672 he succeeded his brother, Samuel Math- 
er, at Dublin. Thence he removed to London, where he was pastor 
of a congregational church, and one of the lecturers at Pinner's hall. 
He died July 26, 1697, aged sixty seven years. He was buried in 
the burying ground near Bunhill fields, and there is upon his tomb- 
stone a long Latin inscription, written by Dr. Watts, which ascribes 
lo him a high character for genius, learning, piety, and ministerial 
fidelity. He published the righteousness of God by faith upon all, 
who believe, 1694 ; a discussion of the lawfulness of a pastor's offi- 
ciating in another's church ; twenty three sermons, preached at 
Pinner's hall, and Lime street, taken in short hand as they were 
delivered, but most of them corrected by himself, 1701 ; a fast ser- 
mon.— Ca/a7/zw's continuation^ i. 257 — 259; VVatta* lyric fiocws^ 
book iii ; \''onconform. infmorial, ii. 4 ; Holmes* annals., ii. 39. 

MATHER (Eleazer), first minister of Northampton, Massa- 
chusetts, was the son of the reverend Richard Mather, and was born 
May 13, 1637. He was graduated at Harvard college in 1656. 
Having preached about two years at Northampton, when a church 
was gathered there in 1661 he was ordained its minister on the 
twenty third of June. He died July 24, 1669, aged thirty two 
years, having been admired as a man of talents and exalted piety, 
and as a zealous and eminently useful preacher. After his death 
there was published from his manuscripts a serious exhortation to 
the succeeding and present generation in New England, being the 
substance of his last sermons, 1 67 1 . — Magnalia., iii 1 30 ; Collect, 
hist. soc. ix. 181, 192 ; Edwards* narrative ; life of I. Mather^ 66. 

MATHER (Increase, d. d.) president of Harvard college, was 
the son of the reverend Richard Mather, and was born at Dorches- 
ter June 2 I, 1639. He was graduated at the college, which was 
afterwards entrusted to his care, in 165 6. Beginning to preach in 
the next yeir. and bein;j: invited by his brother to Dublin, he em- 
barked for England July 3, 1 657, and after an absence of four years 
returned in August 1661. In the next month he was invited to 
preach at the north church in Boston, thoKgh he was not ordained 
there till May 27, 1654. Two years before this, when the contro- 
versy respecting t'le subjects of baptism was agitated, he opposed 
thf, results of the svnotl, but being convinced by the arguments of 
Mr. Mitchcl, he afterwardri defended the synodical propositions. 
He was a member of the synod of 1679, ;nul drew up the result 
and the preface to it, which were tlien agreed on. When king 



MAT. 417 

Chades It expressed his wish that the charter of Massachusetts 
might be resigned into his hands in 1683, Dr. Mather zealously op- 
posed a compliance with his majesty's pleasure. In 1688 he sailed 
for England as agent of the province to procure redress of griev- 
ances. After several years of important services he returned with 
a new charter, and arrived at Boston May 14, 1692. He had the 
sole nomination of the first g-overnor. After his arrival the gene- 
ral court appointed a day of public thanksgiving for his safe return, 
and for the settlement of the government. During the witchcraft 
delusion he opposed the violent measures, which were adopted. 
He wrote a book to prove, that the devil might appear in the shape 
of an innocent man, by means of which a number of persons, con- 
victed of witchcraft, escaped the execution of the sentence. After 
the death of Mr. Oakes in 1631 the care of Harvai'd college de- 
volved upon him. But as his chvirch refused to relinquish him, he 
only made weekly visits to Cambridge until the appointment of 
president Rogers in the following year. After his death he was 
again called to the presidency of the college June 1 1, 1685, and he 
continued in this station till September 6, 1701, when he resigned 
in consequence of an act of the general court, requiring the presi- 
dent to reside at Cambridge. He was unwilling to leave his church, 
though his son, Dr. Cotton Mather, had been settled as his colleague 
for a number of years. Mr. VVillard succeeded him. After a long 
life of benevolent exertion, he died in Boston August 23, 1723, in 
the eighty fifth year of his age, having been a preacher sixty six 
years, sixty two of which were passed in the ministry in Boston. 

He was a man of great learning and of extensive influence and 
usefulness. Soon after his return from England he procured an 
act, authorizing the college to create bachelors and doctors of the- 
ology, which power was not given by its former charter. As pres- 
ident he was careful not only to give the students direction in their 
literary pursuits, but also to impart to them religious instuction. 
He frequently called them one by one into the library, and there 
with the affection of a parent and the fidelity of a minister of the 
gospel he would confer with them respecting the salvation of their 
souls, and solemnly charge them to renounce their sins, to embrace 
the gospel, and to devote themselves to the service of God. He 
usually preached to them every week, and his sermons, both at 
Cambridge and in Boston, were designed to impress the conscience 
as well as to enlighten the mind. He considered him as the best 
preacher, who taught with the greatest simplicity. His delivery 
was somewhat peculiar. He usually spoke with deliberation, but at 
times, when uttering an impressive sentence, his voice became the 
voice of thunder. Always committing his sermons to memory, he 
never used his notes in the pulpit. Sixteen hours in every day were 
commonly spent in his study, and in his retirement he repeatedly 
addressed himself to the Lord his Maker. He always kept a diary, 
54 



418 MAT. 

designed for his improvement in religion. Such was his benevo- 
lence, that he devoted a tenth part of all his income to charitable- 
purposes. He married the youngest daughter of Mr. Cotton. Hia 
portrait is in the library of the Massachusetts historical society. 
The foUowir-g is a list of his publications. The mystery of Israel's 
salvation, 1669; the life and death ot Mr. Richard Mather, 1670; 
"svo to drunkards, 1673; the day of trouble near; important truths 
about conversion, 1674 ; the first principles of New England ; a dis- 
course concerning the subject of baptism, and consociation of church- 
es ; the wicked man's portion ; the times of men in the hands of 
God, 1675 ; history of the war with the Indians from June 24,1675, 
to August 12,1 676, with an exhortation to the inhabitants, 1676 ; a 
relation of troubles of New England from the Indians from the be- 
ginning ; an historical discourse on the prevalency of prayer ; re- 
newal of covenant the duty of decaying and distressed churches, 
1677; pray for the rising generation, 1678; a call to the rising 
generation, 1679 ; the divine right of infant baptism; the great 
concernment of a covenant people ; heaven's alarm to the world, 
1680 ; animadversions upon a narrative of the baptists, 1681 ; dia- 
tviba de signo filii hominis j practical truths ; the church a subject 
of persecution, 1682; cometogrophia, or a discourse concerning 
comets, 1683; remarkable pi'ovidences ; the doctrine of divine 
providence, 1684 ; an arrow against profane and promiscuous danc- 
es, 1685 ; the mystery of Christ; the greatest of sinners exhorted; 
a sermon on the execution of a poor man for murder, 1686 ; a testi- 
mony against superstitions, 1687 ; desuccessu evangelii apud Indos 
epistola, 1688 ; the unlawfulness of using common prayer, and of 
swearing on the book, 1689 ; several papers relating to the state of 
New England ; the revolution justified, 1690 ; the blessing of prim- 
itive counsellors ; cases of conscience concerning witchcraft ; an 
essny on the power of a pastor for the administration of sacraments, 
1693 ; ^\hether a man may marry his wife's own sister; solemn 
advice to young men, 1695 ; angelographia, a treatise of angels, 
1696 ; a discourse on man's not knowing his time ; the case of con- 
science concerning the eating of blood, 1697 ; David serving his 
generation, a funeral sermon, 1698 ; the surest way to the highest 
honor; on hardness of heart ; the folly of sinning, 1699 ; the order 
of the gospel vindicated, 1700; the blessed hope, 1701; remarks 
on a sermon of George Keith ; Ichabod, or the glory departing, an 
election sermon ; the Christian religion the only true religion ; the 
excellency of public spirit, 1702 ; the duty of parents to pray for 
their children ; soul saving gospel truths, 1703; the voice of God 
in, stormy winds ; practical truths to promote holiness, 1704 ; med- 
itations on the glovy of Christ, 1705 ; a discourse concerning earth- 
quakes ; a testimony against sacrilege ; a dissertation concerning 
right to sacraments, 1706; meditations on death; a disquisition 
'concerning right to sacraments, 1707; a dissertation wherein the 



MAT. 419 

strange doctrine of ^r. Stoddard is refuted, 1708 ; on the future 
conversion of the Jews, confutuig Dr. Lightioot and Mr. Baxter, 
1709; concerning faith and prayer for the kingdom of Christ; 
artillery election sermon on being very courageous ; awakening 
truths tending to conversion, 1710 ; meditations on the glory of the 
heavenly world ; a discourse concerning the death of the righteous ; 
the duty of the children of godly parents, 17*1; burnings bewailed ; 
remarks upon an answer to a book against the common prayer ; 
ineditations on the sanctification of the Lord's day, 1712; a plain 
discourse showing who shall and who shall not enter into heaven j 
a funeral sermon for his daughter in law, 1 7 1 3 j resignation to tlie 
will of God, on the death of his consort, 1714; Jesus Christ a mighty 
Savior, and other subjects, 1715 ; a disquisition concerning eccle- 
siastical councils ; there is a God in heaven ; the duty and dignity of 
aged servants of God, 1716; a sermon at the ordination of his grand 
son ; sermons on the beatitudes ; practical truths plainly delivered 
with an ordination sermon, 1718 ; five sermons on several subjects, 
one of them on the author's birth day, 1719; a testimony to the or- 
der of the churches, 1720 ; advice to children of godly ancestors, a 
sermon concluciing the Boston lectures on early piety ; several 
sheets in favor of inoculation for the small pox, 172 1 ; a dying pas- 
tor's legacy; Elijah's mantle, \Ti2.-—Re7narkables of Dr. I, Math- 
er y JVonconform. tnemorial, ii. 245 — 249 ; Magnalia, iv. 130, 131 ; 
V. 77 — 84 ; vi. 2 ; Collect, hist. soc. iii. 12.6 ; ix. 181 ; x. 156, 167 ; 
Wood's Athente Oxonienses., ii. 428, 429 ; Calamy's contimiat. i. 494 
— 500 ; J^eal's J^T. E.ii. 1 14, 1 15 ; Hutchinson, i. 366 ; ii. 305 ; C. 
Mather's sermon on his death; Trumbull, i 325 ; Holmes's annals, ii. 
111. 

MATHER (Cotton, d.d. f.r.s.), minister in Boston, was the 
son of the preceding, and grandson of Mr. John Cotton. He was 
born in Boston February 12, 1663. Distinguished for early piety, 
when he was a school boy he endeavored to persuade his youthful 
companions frequently to lift up their hearts to their Maker and 
heavenly Friend, and he even wrote for them some forms of devo- 
tion. He had also the courage to reprove their vices. At the age 
of fourteen he began to observe days of secret fasting ancj prayer, 
reading commonly fifteen chapters in the bible every day. He was 
graduated at Harvard college in 1678, having made uncommon 
proficiency in his studies. At this early period of his life he drew 
up systems of the sciences, and wrote remarks upon the books, 
which he read, and thus matured his understanding. At the age of 
seventeen he approached the fiord's table with affectionate reliance 
upon Jesus Christ for salvation. Having been occupied for somo 
time in the study of theology, he was ordained minister of the north 
church in Boston as colleague with his father May 1 3, 1684 Here 
he passed his days unwearied and unceasing in his exertions to pro- 
•viote the glory of his Maker, and the highest welfare of his breth- 



420 MAT. -^ 

ren. He died in the ftssurance of Christian faith February I^ 
1728, aged sixty five years. He v.'asamanof unequalled indus- 
try, of vast learnintj, of unfeigned piety, and ot most disinter- L 
ested and expansive bciievolence. He was also distinguished for T 
his credulity, for his pedantry, and for his v/ant of judgment 
ftnd taste. No person in America had so large a library, or had 
read so many books, or retained so much of what he read. So pre- 
cious did he consider time, that to prevent visits of unnecessary - 
length he wrote over his study door in capital letters, " be short." ■ 
Still his manners were never morose, but easy and obliging. His 
social talents and his various knowledge rendered his conversation 
interesting and instructive. Every morning he usually read a chap- 
ter of the Old Testament in Hebrew and another in the French, and 
a chapter of the New Testament in Greek. Besides the French 
he understood also the Spanish and Iroquois, and in these languages 
he published treatises. There Avere two books, in which he every 
day wrote something. In the one, which he called his quotidiana, 
he transcribed passages from the authors, which he read. In the 
other, wliich was his diary, he noted the events of the day, his im- 
perfections and sins, and every thing, which might subserve his 
religious improvement. By this diary it appears, that in one year 
he kept sixty fasts, and twenty vigils, and publishec' fourteen books, 
besides discharging the duties of his pastoral office. As a minister 
of the gospel he was most exemplary. Always proposing in his 
sermons to make some particular imprcssii)n upon the minds of 
his hearers, the whole discourse had relation to this olijcct, and he 
endeavored to make his sentences short, that those, who took notes, 
might do it with the more ease. His discourses without doubt were 
equal in length to those of his brethren, which he himself informs us 
usually went a good way into the second hour. He kept a list of the 
members ot his church, and frequently prayed for each separately, 
Those especially, whose cases had been mentioned on the Sabbath 
in the house of public v.'orship, were remembered by him in his 
secret addresses to the throne of grace. He usually allotted one or 
two afternoons in a week to visiting the families of his congregationt 
and hi these visits he addressed both the parents and the children, 
exhorting the former to faithfulness, and endeavoring to instruct 
the latter by asking them questions, and recommending to them 
secret prayer and the reading of the scriptures. When he left 
them he recommended to their consideration a particular text of 4 
scripture. As he published many pious books, he was continually T 
putting them into the hands of persons, to whom he thought they 
would be useful. His success seemed to correspond with his fidel- 
ity. In the first year of his ministry about thirty were added to 
his church ; and he received the benedictions of many dying be- 
lievers, who spoke of his labors as the means of their salvation. 
He promoted the establishment of severaUiscful societies, parliciu 



MAT. 4^1 

larly a society for suppressing disorders and for the reform ation of 
Tiiannersj and a society of peace makers, whose object was to pre- 
vent lawsuits and to compose differences. He arranged the busi- 
ness of every day in the moining, always inquiring by what means 
he could be useful to his fellow men, and endeavoring to devise new 
methods of doing good. He did not content himself with contriv- 
ing plans, but vigorously executed them. When he travelled, he 
commonly had for a companion some young gentleman, to whom 
he might impart instruction, and he used to pray with him in pri- 
vate, Avhen they lodged together. Notwithstanding his benevolent 
labors and unwearied industry, he expressed the greatest hunjiliiy, 
and spoke of his days as passed in sloth and sin. Dr. Mother took 
some interest in the political concerns of his country, and on this 
account as well as on account of his faithful reproof of iniquity he 
had many enemies. Many abusive letters were sent him, all of 
which he tied up in a packet and wrote upon the cover, " libels ; 
Father, forgive them." Though he derived much satisfaction from 
his theological and literary pursuits ; yet he declared, that in per- 
foi'ming an act of benevolence to some poor and suffering Chiistian 
he found much higher pleasure. In his diary he says, " as for the 
delights of the woiid, I know of none comparable to those, which I 
take in communion with my Savior. As for the riches of thiswoild, 
I use no labor for them. In my Savior I have unsearchable riches; 
and in my fruition of him I have a full supply of all my wants. As 
for the honors of this world, I do nothing to gain honors for myself. 
To be employed in the Lord's work, for the advancement of his 
kingdom, is all the honor, that I wish for." 

Dr. Mather's publications amounted to three hundred and eighty 
two. Many of them indeed were small, such as single sermons, 
but others were of considerable magnitude. His essays to do good, 
12mo, 1710, is a volume peculiarly excellent. It has lately been 
reprinted in England. Dr. Franklin ascribed all his usefulness in 
the world to his reading it in early life. His Christian philosopher, 
8vo, 172 1, was admired in England. His directions for a candidate 
of the ministry, 12mo, 1725, gained him a vast number of letters 
thanks. Others of his larger works are the life of his father, 
and ratio disciplinje fratrum Nov-Anglorum, or an account of the 
discipline professed and practised in the churches of New England. 
But his largest and most celebrated work is his magnalia Christi 
Americana, or the ecclesiastical history of New England from its 
first planting in 1625 to the year 1698, in seven books, fblio» 
1702. His style abounds M'ith puerilities, puns, and strange con- 
ceits, and he makes a great display of learning ; but no man was so 
thoroughly acquainted with the history of New Enc? land, and he has 
saved numerous and important facts from oblivion. In the Avork arc 
contained biographical accounts of many of the first settlers, both 
governors and ministers. It appears, that he gave full credit to the 



422 MAT. 

stories of witchcraft; but he was not singular in Ins creJiflitjr, 
Even Dr. Watts wrote to him, " I am persuaded, that there was 
jnuch immediate agency of the devil in those affairs, and perhapu 
there were some real witches too." The cutalouge of his publica- 
tions in his life, written by his son, occupies eighteen pages ; and 
the whole tlierefore could not with convenience be here inserted. 
He published funeral sermons on John Baily, 1697 ; Mary Brown, 
1703 ; Sarah Leverctt, 1704 ; Michael Wigglesworth, 1705 ; J. 
Winthrop, 1707; Ezekial Checver and John Higginson, 1708 ; Je- 
rusha Oliver, 1709 ; Eliz. Hutchinson, 1712 ; Mary Rock, and Eliz- 
abeth Mather, 1713; Sarah Ting, and Maria Mather, 1714 ; Thom- 
as Bridge, and Mehitabel Gerrish, 1715 ; Katharine Mather, 1716 j 
Hobert Kitchen, Hannah Sewall, and Wait Winthrop, 1717; 
Thomas Barnard, 1718 ; James Keith, and Joseph Gerrish, 1719 ; 
Abigail Sewall, 1720 ; Frances Webb, and Abigail Willard, 1721 ; 
Joseph Belcher, and Increase Mather, 1723 ; governor Saltonstall, 
and Thomas Walter, 1724 ; Abigail Browne, 1725 j EUzabeth Cot- 
ton, and Elizabeth Cooper, 1726; William Waldron, and Peter 
Thacher, 1727. Among his other works, which are principally 
occasional sermons or pious tracts, is the wonders of the invisible 
world, 4to, 1692 ; and Psalterium Americanum, or the book of 
Psalms in blank verse, with illustrations, 1718. Besides his nume- 
rous publications, he left behind him in manuscript the angel of 
Bethcsda, in which he placed under every disease not only suitable 
religious instructions, but the most simple and easy medicines ; a 
large treatise, designed to promote union among protestants ; Goli- 
athus detruncatus, against Mr. Whiston, to prove that most of the 
Antenicene fathers were orthodox and not Arian ; and Biblia Amer- 
icana, or the sacred scriptures of the Old and New Testament illus- 
trated. This learned work, which it was once proposed ,to publish 
in three folio volumes, is now in the library of the Massachusetts 
historical society. — J^ife bij S. Mat her ; Middleton'a biografihia evang. 
iv. 233 — 240 ; Preface to Jiurder's edition of essays to do good ; 
Collect, hist. soc. -a. 156, 168 ; Hardie. 

MATHER (Samuel, d.d.), minister in Boston, was the son of 
the preceding, and Avas graduated at Harvard college in 1723. He 
was ordained in the same church, in which his father was settled, as 
colleague with the reverend Mr. Gee June 21, 1732. In about ten 
years a separation took place liy mutual agreement in consequence, 
it is believed, of a difference of views in regard lo the revival of re- 
ligion, which took place at that period. A church was built for him 
in Bennet street by persons, who withdrew with him from the old 
north church. He was their pastor till his death June 27, 1785, at 
the age of seventy nine years. He was hurried, by his own direc- 
tion, without any ceremony. A society of univcrsalists purchased 
his church and still occupy it. Dr. Mather published a sermon on 
the death of William Waldron, 1 727 ; of his father, 1 728 ; life of 



MAY. 423 

his father, 8vo, 1729 ; essay on gratitude, 1732 ; on the death of 
queen Caroline, 1738 ; an apology for, the liberties of the churches 
in New England, Bvo, 1738 ; artillery election sermon, 1739 ; on 
the death of T. Hutchinson, esquire, 1740 ; of the prince of Wales, 
175 1 ; of William Welsteed and Ellis Gray, 1753 ; dissertation on 
the name of Jehovah, 1760; convention sermon, 1762 ; essay on 
the Lord's prayer, 1766 ; all men will not be saved forever, 1781.—. 
Collect, his', soc. iii. 258, 263 ; Holmes' annals, ii. 471. 

MAYHE W (Thomas), governor of Martha's Vineyard and the 
neighboring islands, resided at Watertown, Massachusetts, in Octo- 
ber 1 64 1, when he obtained of the agent of lord Stirling a grant of the 
above lands. In the following year he began a settlement at Edgar- 
ton. In about thirty years these islands were attached to New York, 
and in 1692 they were annexed to Massachusetts. He gave his 
son much assistance in the benevolent work of converting the heathen. 
The Indian sachems were afraid that the reception of the Christian 
religion would deprive them of their power ; but governor Mayhew 
convinced them, that religion and government were distinct, and by 
his prudent conduct removed their prejudices against the truth. 
Having persuaded them to adopt the English administration of jus- 
tice, and having proved himself their father and friend, they became 
exceedingly attached to him and at length submitted themselves to 
the crown of England. After the death of his son, as he was ac- 
quainted with the language of the Indians, and as he saw no pros- 
pect of procuring a stated minister for them, he began himself, at 
the age of seventy, to preach to the natives as well as to the Eng- 
lish. Notwithstanding his advanced years and his office of gover- 
nor, he sometimes travelled on foot near twenty miles through the 
woods in order to impart the knowledge of the gospel to those, 
that sat in darkness. He persuaded the natives at Gayhead to re- 
ceive the gospel, which they had before opposed. Between the 
years 1664 and 1667 he was much assisted by the reverend John 
Cotton. When an Indian church was formed Augvist22, 1670, the 
members of it desired him, though above fourscore, to become their 
pastor ; but as he declined, they chose Hiacoomes. When Phil- 
ip's war commenced in 1675, the Indians of Martha's Vineyard could 
count twenty times the number of the English, and the latter would 
probably have been extirpated, had not the Christian religion been 
introduced ; but now all was peace, and Mr. Mayhew employed 
some of his converts as a guard. While his zeal to promote the 
gospel was yet unabated, he died in 1681 in the ninety third year of 
his age, and the twenty third of his ministry. In his last moments 
his heart was filled with Christian joy. — Prince's account, annexed 
to Mather's hidian cojwerts, 280, 292 — 302 ; Connecticut evang. 
mag. ii. 367 ; holmes' annals, ii. 322 ; Neal's A. E. i. 219, 267 > 
IlutcIUnson, i. 161 ; Collect, hist. soc. iii. 155. 



424 MAY. 

MAYHEW (Thomas), the first minister of Martha** Vineyard, 
was the only son of the preceding, and in 1642 accompanied him to 
that island, where he became the minister of the English. He be- 
held with Christian compassion the miserable Indians, who were 
ignorant of the true God; he studied their language ; he conciliat- 
ed their attection ; and he taught ihem the truths of the gospel. 
The first convert was Hi.icoomes, who embraced the Christian relig- 
ion in 1643. Mr. Mayhew commenced his public instructions to the 
Indians in 1646, the same year, in which Mr. Eliot began his mis- 
sionary exertions in a different part of the country. Many obstacles 
were thrown in his way ; but he persevered in his benevolent la- 
bors, visiting the natives in their different abodes, lodging in their 
smoky wigwams, and usually spending part of the night in relating 
to them portions of the scripture history. Before the close of the 
year 1650 a hundred Indians entered into a solemn covenent to obey 
the Most High God, imploring his mercy through the blood of 
Christ. In 1652 there were two hundred and eighty two of the 
heathens, who had embraced Christianity, and among these were 
eight pawaws, or priests, who were so much interested to support 
the credit of their craft. He sailed for En;-land in November 1657 
to communicate intelligence respecting these Indians to the society 
for propagating the gospel, and to procure the means of more ex- 
tensive usefulness ; but the vessel was lost at sea, and he perished 
in the thirty seventh year of his age. He had received a liberal 
education, and was a man of considerable learning. His talents 
migiit have procured him a settlement in places, where his mainte- 
nance would have been generous ; but he chose to preach the gos- 
pel to the heathen, and cheerfully consented to live in poverty and 
to labor with his own hands to procure the means of subsistence for 
his family. Four of his letters respecting the progress of the gospel 
were published in London. — Indian converts.^ afifiendix-) 280 — 292 ; 
Connect, evang. mag.n. 285 — 287,364,444 — 451; MaCs JV. £. 
I. 262 — 267 ; Magnolia, iii. 200. 

MAYHEW (John), minister of Martha's vineyard, was the soa 
of the preceding, and was born in 1 652. At the age of twenty one 
he was called to the ministry among the English at Tisbury in the 
middle of the island. About the same time also he began to preach 
to the Indians. He taught them alternately in all their assemblies 
every week, and assisted them in the management of their ecclesi- 
astical concerns. For a number of years he received but five pounds 
annually for his services, but he was content, being more desirous 
of saving souls from death than of accumulating wealth. He sought 
not glory of men, and willingly remained imkno>vn, though he pos- 
sessed talents, which might have attracted applause. He died 
February 3, 1689, in the thirty seventh year of his age, and the 
sixteenth of his ministry, leaving an Indian church of one hundred 
communicyits, and several Avell instructed Indian teachers iu differ- 



MAY. 425 

ent congregations. In his last sickness he expressed his hope of 
salvation through the n\erits of Christ.-— Indian converts^ aptiendix. 

MAYHEW (Expehifnce), minister on Martha's Vineyard, 
was the eldest son of the preceding,and was born January 27, 1673. 
In March 1694, about five years after the death of his father, he 
began to preach to the Indians, taking the oversight of five or six 
of their assemblies. The Indian language had been familiar to him 
from infancy, and he was employed by the commissioners of the 
society for propagating the gospel in New England to make a new 
version of the Psalms and of John, which work he executed with 
great accuracy in 1709. He died November 29, 1758, in the 
eighty sixth year of his age. He published a sermon, entitled, all 
mankind by nature equally under sin, 1724; Indian converts, 8voj 
1727, in which he gives an account of the lives of thirty Indian 
ministers, and about eighty Indian men, women, and youth, worthy 
of remembrance on account of their piety ; a letter on the Lord's 
supper, 1741 ; grace defended, 8vo, 1744, in which he contends, 
that the offer of salvation, made to sinners in the gospel, contains in 
it a conditional promise of the grace given in regeneration. In 
this, he says, he differs from most in the Calvinistic scheme ; yet he 
supjx)rts the doctrines of original sin, of eternal decrees, and of the 
sovereignty of God in the salvation of man. — Indian cunverts^^afifien, 
306, 307 ; Chauncy's remarks on Landaff's sermon., 2 3. 

MAYHEW (Jonathan, d.d.), minister in Boston, was the son 
of the preceding, and was born at Martha's Vineyard October 8, 
1720. He was graduated at Harvard college in 1744, having made 
uncommon proficiency in literary pursuits. After being occupied 
for some time in the study of theology he was ordained the minis- 
ter of the west church in Boston June 17, 1747, as successor of the 
first minister, Mr. Hooper, who had embraced the episcopalian 
worship. Here he continued till his death, which took place sud- 
denly July 9, J 766, in the forty sixth year of his age. He was 
succeeded by the late Dr. Howard. 

Dr Mayhew possessed superior powers of mind, and he was 
distinguished for his literary attainments. In classical learning he 
held an eminent rank. His writings evince a mind, capable of 
making the nicest moral distinctions, and of grasping the most ab- 
struse metaphysical truths. Among the correspondents, which his 
literary character or his attachment to liberty gained him abroad, 
were Lardner, Benson, Kippis, Blackburne, and Hollis. From the 
latter he procured many rich donations for the university of Cam- 
bridge. Being a determined enemy to religious establishments, to 
test acts, and to ecclesiastical usurpation, he in 1763 engaged in a 
controversy with the reverend Mr. Apthorp respecting the proceed- 
ings of the society for the propagation of the gospel in foreign parts, 
of which Mr. Apthorp was a missionary. He contended, that the 
society was either deceived by the representations of the person-j 

55 



426 MAY. 

employed, or was governed more by a regard to episcopacy than to» 
charity. He was an unshaken friend of civil and religious hberiy, 
and the spirit, which breathed in Iiis writings, transfused itself into 
the minds of many of his fellow citizens, and had no little influence 
in producing those great events, which took place after his death. 
He was the associate of Otis, and other patriots in resisting the 
arbitrary claims of Great Britain He believed it to be his duty to 
promote the happiness of his brethren in every possible way, and 
he therefore took a deep interest in political concerns. He possessed 
singular fortitude and elevation of mind. Unshackled by education 
he thought for himself, and what he believed he was not afraid ta 
avow. In his natural temper he was warm, and he had not always 
a full command of himself. He was however amiable in the sev- 
eral relations of life, endeared to his friends, ready to perform 
the offices of Itindness, liberal and charitable. Some of his contem- 
poraries considered him as not perfectly evangelit:al in his senti- 
ments. Whether he was correct or not in the result of his inquir- 
ies, he was independent in making them. But although he thus 
thought for himself, and wished others to enjoy the same liberty ; yet 
he did not degrade his intellectual dignity by confounding tlve differ- 
ence between truth and falsehood, right and wrong, and saying, that 
it is of little consequence what a man believes. Though he was 
called liberal in his sentiments, his charity would not admit of 
attenuation and expansion to such a degree, as to embrace every one. 
His discourses were practical and persuasive, calculated to inform; 
the mind, and to reach the heart. He depended less on the manner 
of delivery to captivate his audience, than on the truth of his in- 
structions and the motives, by which he enforced them. In his 
extemporary performances he was not remarkable for fluency or 
ease. As a preacher he was most interesting to the judicious ind 
enlightened. He pulilished seven sermons, 8vo, 1749, which for 
perspicuous and forcible reasoning have seldom been equalled ; a 
discourse concerning unlimited submission, and nonresistance to 
the higher powers, preached on the thirtieth of January, 1750,. 
in which he did not speak of the royal martyr in the strain of the 
episcopalians ; on the death of the prince of Wales, 175 1 ; election 
sermon, 1^54 ; on the earthquakes ; sermons on justification, 1755 ; 
two thanksgiving sermons for the success of his majesty's arms, 
1758, and two on the reduction of Quebec, 1759 ; a thanksgiving 
sermon on the entire reduction of Canada ; on the death of Stephen 
Bewail ; on the great fire in Boston, 1760 ; on the death of George 
II ; striving to enter in at the strait gate explained and inculcated, 
1761 ; Christian sobriety in eight sermons to voung men, with two 
thanksgiving sermons ; observations on the charter and conduct of 
the society for propagating: the gospel in foreign parts, 1763 ; de- 
fence of thi^ preceding, 1764; second defence, 1765 ; Dudleian 
lecture, 1765 ; thanksgiving sermon for the repeat of the stamtv 



MEL. 427 

act, 1766.— SerTMons on his death bij Chauncy and Gay; Literary 
miscetianyyi.62 — 70; 157—164; MemoirsofT. Mollis^ 108; Minot's 
contin.u. 135,136; Collect, hiat. soc. x. 169; Warren^ i. 415; 
Go7-don,i. 178, 

MELLEN (John), minister of Lancaster, Massachusetts, was 
born at Hopkmton March 25, 172.2, and was graduateu at tlurvard 
college in 1741. He was ordaiiiecl pastor ot" the church in Lancaster, 
now Sterling, December 19, 1774. Alter remaining in this town 
about thirty five years, his connexion with his society was dissolved 
in consequence of disputes, occasioned principally by his enaeuv- 
ors to maintain what he considered the oraer of the churches. In 
1784 he became the minister of Hunover, where he continued to dis- 
charge the duties of the sacred office until February 1805, when his 
increasing infirmities induced him to relinquish it. He soonremov- 
Gc4 to Reading, and closed a long and useful lite in the house of his 
daughter, the relict of the reverend Caleb Prentiss, July 4, 1807, in 
the eighty sixth year of his age. hy the diligent and successful 
cultivation of talents, with which he was liberally endowed, he be- 
came respectable in his profession. Many have an aflectionate re- 
membrance of his faithful labors as a minister of the gospel. He 
was amiable and liappy in the relations of domestic life, and he liv- 
ed to see a lai'ge fan ily holding a. reputable rank in the world* 
He published a sermon at the ortlinationofthe reverend Joseph Pal- 
mer at Norton, 1753 ; on occasion of a general muster and inspec- 
tion of arms, 1756,; onthe mortal sickness among his people, 1756 ; 
a thanksgiving sermon on the conquest of Canada, 1760 ; religion 
productive of music, a sermon preached at Marlborough ; a ser- 
mon at the ordination of reverend Levi Whitman, Wellfleet, 1785 ; 
on the national thanksgiving, 1795 ; a sermon before the old colo- 
ny lodge of free masons at Hanover, 1793 ; on the duty of making 
a profession of Christianity, preached at Scituate ; fifteen discours- 
es on doctrinal subjects with practical improvements, 8vo, 1765.— 
Columbian centi7ielf July 11, 1807. 

MERCER (Hugh), a brigadier general in the late war, was 
a native of Scotland, and after his arrival in America he serv- 
ed with Washington in the war against tlte French and Indians, 
which terminated in 1763, and was greatly esteemed by him. He 
engaged zealously in support of the liberties of his adopted coun- 
try. In the battle near Princeton January 3, J777 he commanded 
the van of the Americans, composed principally of southern militia, 
and while gallantly exerting himself to rally them received three 
wounds from a bayonet, of which he died January nineteenth. It is 
said, that he was stabbed after he had surrendered. He was a valu- 
able officer and his character in private life was amiable. Provision 
was mude by congress in 1793 for the education of his youngest 
eon, Hugh Mercer. — Marshall, n. 552, 553 ; Holmes* annals, ii. 372 ; 
Oordon, ji. 404 ; Ramsay, i. 325 ; Collect, hist. soc. ii. 90 ; War- 



428 MEY. 

ren,i. 350 ; Indefiendent chronicle^ Feb. 13, 1777 ; Journal of senate 
U. S.March, 1793. 

MEYER (Hekm ANNUS, d.d.), a minister of the reformed Dutch 
church, was invited to come irom Holland and take the charge of 
the church at Kini^slon or Esopus in the state of New York. Upon 
his arrival in 1762, he was received with that respect and affection, 
which were due to his character. But his preaching soon excited 
opposition. He was too evangelical, practical, and pointed to suit 
the taste of many of his principal hearers. He searched the con- 
science so closely, and applied the doctrines of the gospel so pow- 
erfully to the heart, that while they professed to revere the man, 
they openly declared, that it was impossible for them patiently to 
sit under his ministry. No plausible ground of opposition howev- 
er could be found until the marriage of Dr. Meyer. The Dutch 
churches in this country were at this time divided into two parties, 
called the ccetus and tlie conferentie parties, of which the former 
wished to establish judicatories with full powers in America, and 
the latter was desirous of retaining the churches in subjection to 
the classis of Amsterdam. The marriage of Dr. Meyer into a 
leading family of the coetus party and an intimate friendship, which 
sooa succeeded, with other families and distinguished characters of 
the same party furnished his enemies with an occasion of standing 
forth against him. A number of the neighboring ministers were 
invited to attend and decide in the dispute, and they proceeded, 
■without any competent authority, to suspend him from his ministry 
in that pkice, and discharge the congregation from their relation to 
him. He was afterwards called to the church at Pompton in New- 
Jei-sey, where he continued to labor with much diligence, faithful- 
ness, and success till his death. He died in 1791, without ever be- 
ing able to effect a reconciliation with the church at Kingston, but 
greatly beloved and respected in all the other Dutch churches. He 
was a man of great erudition, of a mild and luimble temper, polite 
and unaffected in his manners, and eminently pious. A number of 
years before his death he was appointed by the g< ncral synod of 
the Dutch church a professor of the oriental languages and a lector 
or assistant to the professor of theology ; and as such he rendered 
very important services in preparing candidates for the ministry. "^ 
-—Meson's Christianas magazine, ii. 10 — 12. 

MIFFLIN (Thomas), a major general in the American army, 
and governor ot Pennsylvania, was born about the year 1744 of pa- 
rents who were quakers, and his education was entrusted to the care 
of the reverend Dr. Smith, with whom he was connected in habits 
of cordial intimacy and friendship for more than forty years. Ac- 
tive and zealous, he engaged early in opposition to the measures of 
the British parliament. He was a member of the first congress in 
1774. He took arms, and was among the first officers commission- 
ed on the organization of the continental armv, being appointed 



t 



MIL. 429 

quarter master general in August 1765. For this offence he was 
read out of the society of quakers. In 1777 he was very useful in 
animating the militia, and enkindling the spirit, which seemed to have 
been damped ; but he was also suspected in this year of being unfriend- 
ly to the commander in chief, and of Avishing to have some other 
person appointed in his place. His sanguine disposition and his ac- 
tivity might have rendered him insensible to the value of that cool- 
ness and caution, which were essential to the preservation of such 
an army, as was then under the coinmand of Washington. In 1787 
he was a member of the convention, which framed the constitution 
of the United States, and his name is affixed to that instrument. In 
October 1788 ne succeeded Franklin as president of the supreme 
executive council of Pennsylvania, in which station ne continued till 
October 1790. In September a constitution tor this state was form- 
ed by a convention, in which he presided, and he was chosen 
the first governor. In 1794, during the insurrection in Pennsyl- 
vania he employed to the advantage of his country the extraordinary- 
powers of elocution, with whicii he was endowed. The imperfec- 
tion of the militia laws was compensated by his eloquence. He 
made a circuit through the lower counties, and at different places 
publicly addressed the militia on the crisis in the affairs of their 
country, and through his animating exbortdtions the state furnished 
the quota required. He was succeeded in the office of governor by 
Mr. M'Kean at the close of the year 1799, and he died at Lancaster 
January 20, 1800, in the fifty seventh year of his age. He was an 
active and zealous patriot, who had devoted much of his life to the 
public service.— -S^/uVA'* sermon on his dcach ; Marshall^ ii. 557 ; iii. 
afipen. 15 ; v. 587 ; Clayfwole*s advertiser, Jan. 24, 1800 ; Brissot^ 
nouv. voij. 1. 354 ; Chastel/ujr's travels i. 181 ; Warreri, i. 339, 394. 

MILES (John), minister of the first baptist church in Massachu- 
setts, was settled at Ilston near Swansea in South Wales from 1649 
till his ejectment in 1662. He soon came to this country and form- 
ed achurcn atRehoboth in Bristol county in 1663. The legislature 
ofPlyniouth colony granted to these baptists in 1667 the town of 
Swansey, to which place they removed. Mr. Miles died February 
3, 1683.— .Z>fir/i:«s' abridgment, 9 5-) 1 30 ; A^'oncovform. memorial, edit. 
1802, iii. 500 ; Magnolia, iii. 7 ; Massa. bajitist miss. mag. i. 193. 

MINOT (George RiCHARi>s),a historian, was born in Boston De- 
cember 28, 1758 Distinguished in early life by the love of learning, 
graceful modesty, and amiable manners, he was peculiarly endeared, 
while at school, to his excellent instructer, Mr. Lovell, and in college 
he secured the esteem of the governors of the institution and the 
warmest attachment of his companions. He was graduated in 1778. 
Having pursued the study of the law under the care of the honora- 
ble William Tudor, he began its practice with a high reputation 
and with fixed principles and habits. But his attention was imme- 
diately diverted somewhat from his profession by his appointment 



430 MIN. 

ais clerk of the house of representatives of Massachusetts in 1781, 
soon titter the new coDSlituiion had connnenced its operation. Wniie 
in this station, the duties ot which lie discharged witn tne gre<^4test 
fiuelity and impartiulity, the c .uses, which produced the insurrec- 
tion, were operating, and he had an opportuinly ol being well ac- 
quainted with the pruceedings ot the house. Ol these transactions 
he wrote a sketch, which was published in the Boston magazine tor 
1784 and 1785. At'ier the insurrection was suppressed, he wroiea 
history of it, which was praised equally lor its truth, moderation, 
perspicuity, and elegance. Oi the convention in Massachusetts, 
which considered the constiiution ot ttie Uiiiied States, he was chos- 
en the secretary. In January 1792 he was appointed judge of pro- 
bate for the county of Suffolk, and several years afiervvaicls judge 
of the municipal court in Boston. He died January 2, 1802, in the 
forty fourth year of his age. Amidst the violence oi parties his 
mildness, candor, and moderation gained him the respect oi all. His 
conversation was interesting, for his mind was enriched with vari- 
ous knowledge, and there was a modesty and benignity in his char- 
acter, which attracted and delighted. Humble anu dLVout, he com- 
plied with the ordinances oi C'lristianity, and trusted entirely to the 
mercy of God for salvation. He published an oration on the Boston 
massacre of the fifth ot March, 1782 ; history of the insurrection in 
Massachusetts, 8vo, 1788 ; an address to the charitable fire society, 
1795 ; eulogy on Washington, 1800 ; a continuation ot the history 
of Massachusetts bay from 1748 to 1765, with an introductory- 
sketch of events from its original settlement. The first volun»e of 
this work, which is a continuation ot Hutchinson, was published in 
8vo, 1798 ; the second volume was almost completed at the time 
of his death, and it has since been published. The narrative is per- 
spicuous, and the style simple and pure, and a model of historical 
eloquence. — Collect, kist. soc. viii. 89 — 109 ; Adams' address to the 
charitable fire society ; Boston new^fiafiers^ Jan. 1802. 

MINTO (Walter, ll. d.), professor of mathematical and natu» 
ral philosophy in the college ot New Jersey, was born in Scotland 
December 3, 1753. After being educated at tlve colleire of Edin- 
burgh, he was requested to superintend the education of the sons of 
governor Johnstone, and accompanied them in their travels abroad. 
At Pisa he pursued witli great diligence his mathematical and as- 
tronomical studies, and established a corresponderice with men em- 
inent for their science. It was while he was residing at Edinburgh 
in 1782, after his return from his travels, that he became actiuaint- 
ed with the earl of Buchan, who on visiting him found him in a room 
not much lars^er than the tub of Diogenes, smoking a cigarr, and 
reading the principia of Newton. By the persuasion and the assist- 
ance of the curl he wrote a book to prove, that the original discove- 
ry of logaritlnns was to be attributed to Napier, tlie laird of Merchis- 
ton, which was published un(ier the superintendence of Dr.Playfjiir 



MIT. 431 

and the reverend Mr. Scott. The earl sent him to America in 178 61, 
beini^ desirous of laying- a foundation of mathematical science ani. of 
virtuous sentiment in the land of Columbus and of Washington.. 
Soon after his arrival he was chosen mathematical professor in 
Princeton college. In this situation he was respected and uselul. 
He married at Princeton a worthy woman of the name of Christie, 
but he had no children. He died October 21, 1796, in the forty- 
third year of his age. He left behind him the reputation of a sincere 
Christian and a truly learned man. He was too sensible of the lit-- 
tie comparative vahie and short duration of fame to be at much 
trouble in acquiring it. Besides the book on Napier he publish- 
ed a demonstration of the path of the new planet ; researches into 
some parts of the theory of the planets, Etc. 8vo, 1783; and an ora- 
tion on the progress and importance of the mathematical sciences, 
8cc. 1788.-— Sketch of his life by the earl of Buthan in Edinburgh 
magazine.^ J/iril, 1801 ; JVeiv York spectator^ May 15, 1802 ; 
Miller. 

MITCHEL (Jonathan), minister of Cambridge, Massachusetts, 
was born in England in 1624. He was brought to this country in 
1635 by his parents, who sought a refuge from ecclesiastical tyran- 
ny in the wilderness. They first settled at Concord ; afterwards 
they lived at Saybrook, Wethersfield, and Stamford, Connecticut. 
Mr. Mitchel was graduated at Harvard college in 1647, having 
made great acquisitions in knowledge and improvements in virtue. 
Under the ministry of the teverend Mr. Shepard his mind was im- 
pressed by the truths of religion. While at college he kept a diary 
in Latin. When he began to preach he was invited to settle at 
Hartford, but he was ordaired at Cambridge, as the successor c^ 
'Mr. Shepard, August 21, 1650. Soon after his settlement presi- 
dent Dunster embraced the principles of antipedobaptism. This 
was a peculiar trial to him ; but though he felt it to be his duty to 
combat the principles of his former tutor, yet he did it vi'ith such 
meekness of wisdom, as not to lose his friendship, though the con- 
troversy occasioned his removal from the college. In 1662 he was a 
member of the synod, which met in Boston to discuss and settle a 
question concerning church membership and church discipline, and 
the residt was chiefly written by him. The determination of th& 
question relating to the baptism of the children of those, who did 
not approach the Lord's table, and the support thus given to what" 
is called the half way covenant, was more owing to him than to any 
other man. Considering baptized persons as members of the 
church and liable to its discipline, he thought, that iheir children 
should be admitted to baptism ; but as this covenant is now practis- 
ed in some places, the persons, who take it, may neglect through 
life to receive the Lord's supper without any adtnonition from tlie 
church. Mr. Mitchel died in the hope of glory July 9. 1668, in the 
forty third year of his age. He was eminent for piety, wisdom, hu» 



432 MIT. 

mility, and love. His vic^orous powers of mind were diligently 
cultivivtcd ; his memory was very retentive ; and he had acquired 
mucli learning. He wrote his sermons with care, and yet preached 
without notes, speaking with great majesty, and attaining towards 
the close of his discourses a fervency, which was most energetic and 
impressive. His delivery was inimitable. He was frequently call- 
ed to ecclesiastical councils, and possessing singular acuteness, 
prudence, and moderation, he was well qu^tlified to heal differences. 
Attached to the institutions of the founders of New England, he fre- 
quently Scdd, that if it should become a general opinion, that all 
persons, orthodox in judgment as to matters of faith, and not scan- 
dalous in life, should be admitted to partake of the Lord's supper 
without any examination concerning the work of saving grace in 
their hearts, it would be a real apostasy from former principles, and 
a degeneracy from the reformation already attained. He was faith- 
ful and zealous in the discharge of the duties of the sacred office. 
Besides his stated labors on the sabbath, he preached a monthly lec- 
ture upon man's misery by sin, salvation by Christ, and holy obedi- 
ence, which was much attended by persons from the neighboring 
towns. He published a letter of counsel to his brother, written 
while he resided at the university, 1664; an election sermon, en- 
titled, Nehemiah upon the wall in troublesome times, 1667 ; a let- 
ter concerning the subject of baptism, 1675 ; a discourse of the glo- 
ry, to which God hath called believers by Jesus Christ, printed Lon- 
don, reprinted Boston, 12 mo, 1721. — His life by C. Mather ; inagna- 
lia,{v. 158 — 185 ; Collect, his. soc.y'n. 23, 27, 47 — 51 ; Mortoji,200 
— 204 ; Hutchinso7i, i. 260 ; JVeaPs M. E. i. 370, 371 ; Holmes' afi- 
nals, i. 402 ; Trumbull's Coiuiccticut, i. 482. 

MITCHELL (JoHK, m.d. f.u.s.)> a botanist and physician, came- 
from England to Virginia in the former part of the last century. 
His residence was chiefly at Urbanna, a small town on the Rappa- 
hannock, about seventy three miles from Richmond. He appears 
to have been a man of observation, acuteness, and enterprise, as 
well as learning. He was a great botanist, and seems to have paid 
particular attention to the Hybrid productions. He wrote in 1743 
an essay on the causes of the different colors of people in different 
climates, which was published in the philosophical transactions, vol. 
xliii. He attributes the difference of the human complexion to the 
same causes, which have been assigned by the reverend Dr. Smith, 
to the influence of climate and modes of life ; and he thinks that 
the whites have degenerated more from the original complexion in 
Noah and his family, than the Indians or even ncii;roes. The color 
of the descendants of Ham he considers a blessing rather than a 
curse, as without it they could not v/ell inhabit Africa. He publish- 
ed also an essay on the preparations and uses of tiie various kinds 
of potash in philosophical transactions vol. xlv ; a letter concerning 
the force of electrical cohesion in vol. li ; and a useful work on 



, M*KE. 433 

"the general principles of botany, containing descriptions of a number 
.)f new genera of plants, 4to,1769. "It is believed, that he was also the 
author of the map of North America published in 175 5, which was 
accompanied by a large pa-.nphlet, entitled, the contest in America, 
and followed by another, entitled the present state of Great Britain 
and North America, 1767. His manuscripts on the yellow fever, 
as it appeared in Virginia in 1742, fell into the hands of Dr. Frank- 
lin, by whom they were conimunicated to Dr. Rush.— .Af///er's i-e- 

M'KEEN (Joseph, D.D.), first president of Bowdoin college, was 
born at Londonderry, New Hampshire, October 15, 1757. His 
immediate ancestors were from the noi-th of Ireland, though of Scotch 
descent. He was graduated at Dartmouth college in 1774, having 
evinced while in that seminary a decided predilection for mathe- 
matical pursuits. After eight years* employment in a school in his 
native town, and after being some time an assistant in the academy 
at Andovcr, he directed his attention to theology, and was ordained 
successor of the reverend Dr. Willard as pastor of the church in 
Beverly, Massachusetts, in May 1785. Here he continued with 
reputation and usefulness seventeen years. Being chosen president 
of Bowdoin college, which had been incorporated eight years, but 
had not yet been carried into operation, he was inducted into that 
important office September 2, 1802. He died July 15, 1807, in 
the fiftieth year of his age, leaving the semina»^y, over which he had 
presided, in a very flourishing condition. He possessed a strong and 
discriminating mind, his manners were conciliating though dignified, 
and his spirit mild though firm and decided. He was indefatigable 
in his exertions to promote the interests of science and religion. 
He was respectable for his learning and exemplary for liis Christian 
virtues, being pious without ostentation and adhering to evangelic- 
al truth without bigotry or superstition. He published some pieces 
in the transactions of the American academy of aits and sciences ; 
an ejection sermon, 1800 ; sermons at the ordination of the rever- 
end Rufus Anderson at North Yarmouth, and of the reverend Mr. 
Moore ^t Newbury old town ; three sermons on occasions of pub- 
lic fasting and prayer ; and the address, which he delivered at his 
inauguration. — Jenka' eulogy ; Colu7nbian centinel, July 27 y 1807. 

MONIS (Judah), the first Hebrew instructer in Harvard col- 
lege, was a native of Italy, and after his arrival in this country be- 
gan his instructions about the year 1720. Though a Jew he em- 
braced the Christian religion, and was publicly baptized at Cam- 
bridge in 1722. After the death of his wife in 1761 he resigned 
his office, which he had sustained for about forty years, and retired to 
Northborough. In that town he passed the remainder of his life in 
the family of the reverend John Martyn, who married a sister of his 
wife. He died April 25, 1764, in the eighty second year of his age, 
bequeathing forty six pounds to be divided among seven of the 

56 



434 MON. 



41 

I! 



neighboring ministers, and one hundred and twenty six pounds as a 
fund, the interest of which was to be given to the indigent wiacws of 
ministers. He published trulli, whole truth, nothing but the trutn, 
1722 ; and a ffcbrew grammar, 4to, 1735. — ll'hitney^ hist. of' Wor- 
cester^ 272 — 274 y Massachusetts mag. Deceinber, 1789. 

MONTCALM (Louis Joseph de, marquis of St. Veran), a dis- 
tinguished Frencli general, was born of a noble family at Candiac in 
1712, and entered early in the army. He commanded with reputa- 
tion in Italy, Bohemia, and Germany. In 1756 he became a field 
marshal, and was sent to Canada, where he succeeded Dies- 
kau. He soon took Oswego ; and in 1757 fort William Henry ; 
and in 1758 he repulsed Abercrombie with much slaughter from, 
the walls of Ticonderoga. When Wolfe in his attack upon Quebec 
bad gained the plains of Abraham on the thirteenth of September 
1759, Montcalm resolved upon a buttle, and accordingly marched 
out. The commanders of the two armies both fell, equally illustri- 
ous for bravery, and both occupied by tlie event of the battle at the 
moment they were about to exchange time for eternity. The for- 
mer rejoiced, that he should die in the arms of victory, and the lat- 
ter that he should not survive the surrender ol Quebec.— ^f^z/nw^*, ii^ 
125, 141 ; Marf^hall.i. 407, 414, 450, 456 — 464 ; Muv.dict.histJ; 
Holmes' annals., ii. 220, 2 41. 

MONTGOMERY (Richard), a major general in the army 
of the United States, was born in the north of Ireland in the 
year 1737. He possessed an excellent genius, which was ma- 
tured by a fine education. Entering the army of Great Britain he 
successfully fought her battles with Wolfe at Quebec in 1759, and 
on the very spot, where he was doomed to fall, when fighting against 
her under the banners of freedom. After his return to England he 
quilted his regiment in 1772, though in a fair way to preferment. 
He had imbibed an attachment to America, viewing it as the rising 
seat of arts and freedom. Alter his arrival in this country he pur-- 
chased an estate in New York about a hundred miles from the city, 
and married a daughter of judge Livingston. He now considered 
himself as an American. When the struggle with Great Britain 
commenced, as he was known to have an ardent attachment to lib- 
erty, and had expressed his readiness to di'aw his sword on the side 
of the colonies, the command of the continental forces in the north- 
ern department was entrusted to him and general Schuyler in the 
fall of 1775. By the indisposition of Schuyler the chief command 
devolved upon him in October. He reduced fort Chamblee and on 
the third of November captured St Johns. On the twelfth he 
took Montreal. In December he joined colonel Arnold and marched 
to Quebec. The city was besieged and on the last day of the year 
it was determined to make an assault. The several divisions were- 
accordingly put in motion in the midst of a heavy fall of snow, which 
concealcfl them from the enemy. Montgomery advanced at the 



MOO. 435 

iiead of the New York troops along the St. Lawrence, and having 
assisted with his own hands in pulling up the pickets, which ob- 
strucied his approach to one ot uie oarriers, thiU he was determined 
to torce, he was pushini< forwards, when one of the guns ot tlie bat- 
tery was discharged, and he was killed with his two aids. Tliis was 
the only gun, that was fireu, lor the enemy h.d been struck with 
consternation, and ah but one or two had lied. But this event prob- 
ably prevented the capture of Quebec. When he fell, Montgome- 
ry was in a narrow passage, and nis body rolled upon the ice, which 
formed by the side ol tne river. After it was found the next morn- 
ing among the slain, it was buried by a few soldiers without any 
marks of distinction. H.^ was thirty eight years of age. He was 
a man of great military talents, whose measures were taken with 
judgment and executed with vigor. With undisciplined troops, 
who were jcidous of him m the extreme, he yet inspired them 
with his own enthusiasm. He shared with them in all their hard- 
ships, and thus prevented their complaints. His industry could 
not be wearied, nor his vigilance imposed upon, nor his courage in- 
timidated. Above tbe pride of opinion, when a measure was adopt- 
ed by the majority, thougb contrary to his own judgment, he gave it 
his full support. By the direction of congress a monument of 
white marble of the most beautiful simplicity, with emblematical 
devices, was executed by Mr. Cassiers at Paris, and it is erected to 
his memory in front of St. Paul's church, New York. — Smith's ora- 
tion on his ddath ; Marshall^ ii. 302 — ^2 1 1 ; 324—344 ; Warren^ i. 
259 — 268, 431 i Collect, hist. soc. i. Ill; ii. 6U ; Monthly antholo- 
gy^i. 544 — 546; 591 ; Stedman^ i. 142 ; Holmes'' annals., ii. 344. 

MOODY (Joshua), minister of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, 
was born in England, and his lather was one of the early settlers of 
Newbury. He was graduated at Harvard college in 1653. He be- 
gan to preach at Portsmouth about the year 165 8, but was not or- 
dained till 1671. In the year 1683, when Cranfield was governor, 
one of the members of Mr. Moody's church was guilty ot perjury 
in relation to a vessel sent out of the harbor ; but he found means 
to settle the affair with the governor and collector. The faithful 
minister of the gospel however believed, that a regard to the purity 
and reputation of the church rendered it necessary, that a notorious 
offence should be the subject of ecclesiastical discipline. The gov- 
ernor, when called upon, refused to furnish the evidence of the 
man's perjury,, and even threatened Mr. Moody, if he proceeded. 
But the servant of Jesus Christ was not to be intimidated. He 
preached against false swearing, he called the offenderto an account, 
3nd even obliged him to make a public confession.. Cranfield in re^' 
venge issued an order, requiring the ministers to admit all persons 
of suitable years and not vicious to the Lord's supper from the first 
of January 1684, under the penalty of the statutes of unirormily^ 
He at the same time signified to Mr. Moody his intention of partaly. 



456 MOO. 

ing the supper on the next Sunday, and requiring him toaammiS* 
ter It according to the liturgy. As Mr, Moody refused to administer 
the ordinance to an unworthy applicant, a prosecution was immedi- 
ately commenced against him, and he was sentenced to six months 
imprisonment without bail or mainprize. Two ot the judges, who 
dissented from this sentence, were removed from their offices. At 
length by the interposition of friends he obtained a release, though 
under a strict charge to preach no more within the province. He 
then accepted of an invitation from the first church in Boston to be 
an assistant minister, and was so highly f steemed, that upon the 
death of president Rogers he was invited to Cake the oversight of the 
college ; but he declined. In the days of the witchcraft delusion 
in 1692 the opposition, which he made to the violent measures 
adopted, occasioned his dismission from the cliurch, -where he was 
preacliing. In the following year he returned to Portsmouth, where 
he spent the rest of his life in usefulness and peace. On the ap- 
proach of his last sickness he went for advice to Boston, where he 
died July 4, 1697, in the sixty fifth year of his age. He was suc- 
ceeded by the reverend Mr. Rogers. Though he was deeply im- 
pressed with his unworthiness of the divine mercy, yet he indulged 
the hope of glory, and was desirous of entering into the presence 
of the dear Redeemer, whom he had served in his gospel. He 
wrote upwards of four thousand sermons. He published a practi- 
cal discourse concerning the choice benefit of communion with God 
in his house, being the sum of several sermons, 12mo, 1685, re- 
printed 1746 ; and election sermon, 1692. — C. Mather's fiai, ser. ; 
Magnolia, i\\ 192 — 199; Collect, hist. soc. vi. 270; x. 40 — 46; 
Belkna/!\v jV. H. i. 204 — 210 ; iii. 305 ; Holmes* annals^ ii, 39. 

MOODY (Samuel), minister of York in the district of Maine, 
was graduated at Harvard college in 1697. He was ordained in 
1700 as successor of Mr. Shubael Dummer, who Avas killed by the 
Indians, and died November 13, 1747, in the seventy second year of 
his age. He was succeeded by the reverend Mr. Lyman. His son, 
the excellent Mr. Joseph Moody, was the first minister of the north 
church in York, and died in about five years after the death of his 
father. 

Mr. Moody had many eccentricities in his conduct ; but he was 
eminent for piety and was a remarkably useful minister of tlie gos- 
pel. In his younger years he often preached beyond the limits of 
"his own parish, and wherever he went, the people hung upon his 
lips. In one of his excursions he went as far as Providence, where 
his exertions v/ere the means of laying the foundation of a church. 
Though a zealous friend to the revival of religion, which took place 
throughout this country a short time before his death ; yet he gave 
no countenance to separations. His spirit was pacific. He was 
bold and resolute in the cause of Christ. Such was the sanctity of 
his character, that it impressed the irreligious with awe. To piety 



MOO. 437 

he united uncommon benevolence. While with importunate ear- 
nestness he pleaded the cause of the poor, he was very charitable 
himself. It was by his own choice, that he derived his support from 
a free contribution, rather than a fixed salary in the usual way. In 
one of his sermons he mentions, that he had been supported twen- 
ty years in a way most pleasing to him, and had been under no ne- 
cessity of spending one hour in a week in care for the world. Yet 
he was sometimes reduced almost to want, though his confidence in 
the kind providence of God never failed him. Some remarkable 
instances of answers to his prayers, and of correspondences be- 
tween the event and his faith are not yet forgotten in Yoi'k. The 
hour for dinner once came, and his table was unsupplied with pro- 
visions ; but he insisted upon having the cloth laid, saying to his 
wife, he was confident that they should be furnished by the bounty 
of God. At this moment some one rapped at the dcoi', and pre- 
sented a ready cooked dinner. It was sent by persons, who on that 
day had made an entertainment, aud who knew the poverty of Mr. 
Moody. He was an irritable man, though he was constantly watch- 
ful against this infirmity. He once went into a tavern and among 
a number of gamblers found a member of his church. In his in- 
dignation he seized hold of him, and cast him out at the door. In one 
of his sermons the doctrine, which he drew from his text, and 
which was the foundation of his discourse, was this, " when you 
know not what to do, you must not do you know not what." He 
preached so much, and he was so convinced of the duty of being 
familiar, that he could spare but little time for selecting Avords of a 
suitable length for elegance, or for giving them the arrangement, 
which should please the ear. He published the doleful state of the 
damned, especially of such, as go to hell from under the gospel, 
1710; election sermon, 1721 ; a summary account of the life and 
death of Joseph Quasson, an Indian.— -Sullivan's district of Maine, 
238; a funeral sermon on Moodu. 

MOORHEAD (John), minister in Boston, was born near Belfast 
in Ireland about the year 1703, and completed his education at one 
of the universities of Scotland. He arrived at Boston in 1729 or 
1730, being invited to become the minister of some emigrants from 
the north of Ireland, who had sought in that town the peaceable en- 
joyment of civil and religious liberty. The first meeting for the 
election of elders was held July 14, 1730, and the church was form- 
ed according to the model of the presbytcrian church of Scotland, 
The first place of worship was a barn, in Avhich these persecuted 
Christians worshipped him, who for the salvation of mankind con- 
descended to be born in a stable. Mr. Moorhead devoted himself 
entirely to his benevolent work, and such was the success of his 
labors, and the accession of foreign protestants, that the communi- 
cants in 1736 were about two hundred and fifty. He died December 
3,1773, at the age of seventy years. His successor was the reverend 



438 MOR. 

Dr. Belknap. He visited once or twice in the year all the families 
of iiis congregation lov the purpose ot imparting i eligious instruc- 
tion, and lie concluded his visit with prayer, wiiich he always pcr- 
foimcd upon his kiiees. Keeping the great object oi" the ministry 
continually m view, ne wtis unvvediied in nis endeavors to promote 
the euilication and salvation ot his people. There were some, who 
couid not Ipear the severity ot lus re^jiools ; but ne was universally 
respected by the good, lor while he laitnludy rebuKed the otVcncler, 
he did ii also with meekness and affection. The ornaments oi style 
clai ued bat little of his attention. Relying upon the efllcacy of 
truth plainly addressed to the conscience, he preached witn earn- 
estness wnat he believed to be the peculiar doctrines of the gospel ; 
the deep depravity of human nature, the divinity oi Jesus Christ and 
the efficacy of tae atonement, the special agency ot the Hoiy Spirit 
in regeneration, the necessity of repentance, ot faith m Christ, and 
of good works, ijis mind was not destitute oi strength, his imag- 
ination was lively, and his manner was solemn, atlectionatc, and ]^iX' 
l\ie.\lc.T^PanoJiliiit^ ii. 393 — 396 ; /»/' Gregore's atrinon on his death. 
MORGAN (John, M. D. f. r.s.), a learned physician, was born 
in Pniladelphia in 1735, and after passing some time in Dr. Finley's 
academy in Nottingham, finished his education in the college of 
Philadelphia under Dr. Allison. In 1757 he was admitted to the 
first literary honors. When he had completed the study of physic 
under the care of Dr. Redman, he entered into the service of his 
country as a surgeon and lieutenant with the provincial troops in the 
last war, which was carried on against the French in America. In- 
defatigable in his attentions to tne sick and wounded, he acquired 
both skill and reputation as a surgeon in the army. In the year 
1760 ne went to Europe to prosecute his studies in medicine. Af- 
ter attending the lectuics of YVillium Hunter, he spent two years at 
Edinburgh, where he received the instructions of JNlunroe, Cullen, 
Rutherford, Whyt, and Hope. He then published an elaborate 
thesis upon the formation of pus, and was admitted to the degree of 
doctor of medicine. From Edinburgh he went to Paris and passed 
a winter in attendance upon the anatomical lectures of Mr. Sue. 
He also visited Holland and Italy. On his return to London he 
was elected a fellow of the royal society. During his absence he 
concerted with Dr. Shippcn the plan of a medical school in Phila- 
delphia, and on his arrival in 1765 was immediately elected profes- 
sor of the iheory and practice of medicine in the college of that city. 
He soon delivered his plan for connecting a medical school with the 
college. In 1769 he saw the fruits of his labors, for in that year 
five young gentlemen received the first honors in medicine, that 
■were conferred in America. He was active in establishing the 
American philosophical society in 1769. In 1773 he went to Ja- 
maica to solirit l^enefaclions lor the advancement of general litera- 
ture in the coUei^c. In October 1775 he was appointed by congress 



MOR. ' 439 

director general and physician in chief to the general hospitals of 
the American army in the place of Dr. Church, who was imprison- 
ed on suspicion of having a predilection lor the cause of the enemy- 
He immediately repaired to Cambridge ; but in 1777 he waS re- 
moved from his office without an opportunity to vindicate himself. 
The dissensions between the surgeons of the general hospital and 
of the regiments and other circumstances gave rise to calumnies 
against him. After his removal he presented himself before a com- 
mittee of congress, appointed by his request, and was honorably ac- 
quitted. He died October 15, 1789, in the fifty fourth year of his 
age. He was intimately acquainted with the Latin and Greek clas- 
sics, and had read much in medicine. In all his pursuits he was 
persevering and indefatigable. He discovered in his intercourse 
with his patients the most amiable tenderness. His successor in 
the professor's chair was Dr. Rush. He published tentamen med- 
icum de puiis confectione, Edinburgh, 1763 ; a discourse upon the 
institution of medical schools in America, 1765; four dissertations 
on the reciprocal advantages of a perpetual union between Great 
Britain and her American colonies, 1766; a recommendation of 
inoculation according to baron Dimsdale's method, 1776 ; a vindica- 
tion ot his public character in the station of director general. — 
JRttfih'.i address l3'c. ; American museum^ vi. 353 — 355 ; Masia. mag, 
iii. 689, 690 ; Miller, i. 320 ; Indtfiend. chronicle, Se/it. 9, 1779, and 
Jamiary 14, 1790. 

MORRIS (Lewis), governor of New Jersey, was left an orphan, 
when a child, and was adopted by his uncle. Once through fear of 
his resentment he strolled into Virginia, and thence to the West 
Indies. On his return however he was received with joy. He was 
for several years chief justice of New York. He was the second 
counsellor of New Jersey, named in Cornbury's commission in 1702, 
and continued with several suspensions till 1738, when he was ap- 
pointed the first governor of New Jersev as a separate province 
from New York. He died May 14, 1746. He directed his 
body to be buried at Morrisania in a plain coffin without coveiing or 
lining with cloth ; he prohibited rings and scarfs from being given 
at his funeral ; he wished no man to be paid for preaching a funeral 
sermon upon him, though if any man, churchman or dissenter, min- 
ister or not, was inclined to say any thing on the occasion, he should 
not object. He prohibited any mourning dress to be worn on his 
account, as he should die when divine providence should call him 
av/ay, and w^as unwilling, that his friends should be at the expense, 
wh'ch was owing only to the common folly of mankind, He was a 
man of letters, and though a little whimsical in his temper was grave 
in his manners and of a most penetrating mind. No man equalled 
him in the knowledge of the law and in the arts of intrigue. Acute 
in controversy, when he had advanced an arL>-umcnt, he wouUi not 
yield it, unless it was disproved bv demonstr;.tion almost mathemat- 
ical. — ^Smith's J^. Jersey, 428 — 435 ; SrnitlCs A'. York, 125, 12-6. 



440 MOR. 

MORRIS (Robert Hunter), chict justice of New Jersey, was 
for near tvvv5nty six years one of the council of this colony, and was 
also lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania from October 1754 to Au- 
gust 1756. He was the son of governor Morris. The office of' 
chief justice he resigned in the fall of 1757 and he died February 
20, 1764. His vigorous powers of mind were improved by a libe- 
ral education. While he disdained in his opinions and conduct to 
resemble the floating log, he sometimes was not sufficiently careful 
to remember, that the tide might not always carry a man out of his 
proper course. As a judge he was impartial and upright. Insisting 
upon strict adherence to the forms of the courts, he reduced the 
pleadings to precision and method. Had he been attracted by no 
other office, his character would have exhibited more of light, than 
of shade. His address was easy, and there was a commanding in- 
fluence in his manners. He was free from avarice ; generous and 
manly, though sometimes incensiderate in the relations of life ; 
often singular, sometimes whimsical, always opinionated, and most- 
ly inflexible. Inheriting his father's disposition he was ready at 
starting difficulties, which neither himself nor others could easily 
solve. — Smith's JV. Jersey^ 438, 439. 

MORRIS (Robert), superintendant of the finances of the Unit- 
ed States, was a native of Manchester in England, and after his 
establishment in this country became a very eminent merchant in 
Philadelphia. His enterprise and credit have seldom been equalled. 
In 1776 he was a member of congress from Pennsylvania, and his 
name is affixed to the declaration of independence. In the begin- 
ning of 1781 he was entrusted with the management of the finances, 
and the services, which in this station he rendered to his country 
were of incalculable value, being assisted by his brother, Gouver- 
neur Morris. He pledged himself personally and extensively for 
articles of the most absolute necessity to the army. It was owing 
in a great degree to him, that the decisive operations of the cam- 
paign of 1781 were not impeded, or completely defeated from the 
want of supplies. He proposed the plan of a national bank, the 
capital to be formed by individual subscription, and it was incorpo- 
rated on the last day of 1 78 1 . The army depended principally upon 
Pennsylvania for flour, and he himself raised the whole supplies of 
this state on the engagement of being reimbursed by the taxes, 
which had been imposed by law. In 1782 he had to struggle with 
the greatest difficulties, for with the most judicious and rigid econ- 
omy, the public resources failed, and against him were the com- 
plaints of unsatisfied claimants directed. He resigned his office 
after holding it about three years. He died at Philadelphia May 8, 
1806, in the seventy second year of his a^e.^— Marshall, iv. 457— 
460, 557, 565 ; Ramsay's S. C. ii. 99 ; Chastdlux's travels, i. 199 
— 203 ; Political register. May 10, 1806. 



MOR. 441 

MORTON (Thomas), one of the first settlers of Braintree, 
Massachusetts, began the plantation about the year 1625. He 
taught the Indians the use of fire arms, that they might hunt for him, 
and in this way as well as by his injustice he endangered the exist- 
ence of Plymouth colony. The magistrates, after ineffectual re- 
monstrances, sent captain Standish in 1628 to take him prisoner. 
He was accordingly seized and ti'ansported to England. In the 
following year he returned, and he was afterwards imprisoned for 
writing a scurrilous book against many godly men in the country. 
His age saved him from corporal punishment. He died at Aga- 
menticus in 1644 or 1645. He published New English Canaan, 
containing an account of the natives, a description of the country, 
and the tenets and practice of the church, 4to, 1632. — Prince^ 76 — 
80; Hutchinson, i, 8, 31,32; Morton, 76 — 80; Josselyn, 251; 
BelkTiaJi's jV. Hampshire, \. 9 ; Hazard, i. 342. 

MORTON_(Charles), minister of Charlestown, Massachusetts) 
was born in England about the year 1626, and educated at Oxford, 
of which college he was a fellow. He was at first a royalist and 
zealous for the church of England ; but observing in the civil wars, 
that the most debauched generally attached themselves to the king 
in opposition to the more virtuous part of the nation, he was led to 
attend more to the controversy between the prelatist and the puritan. 
At length he became a puritan himself. He. began his ministry at 
Blisland. After his ejectment b^he act of uniformity in 1662 he 
preached privately to a few peopl^till the fire of London in 1666, 
after which event he removed to that city and established an acade- 
my at Newington green. He had many pupils, who were useful 
in church and state, and among them was De Foe, the author of 
Robinson Crusoe. Many young ministers were educated by him. 
After about twenty years' continuance in an employment, for which 
he was eminently qualified, he was so infested by processes 
from the bishop's court, that he was obliged to desist from it. He 
came to New England in 1685, and was installed pastor of the church 
in Charlestown November 5, 1686. Here he continued till his 
death April 1 1, 1698, in the seventy second year of his age. He 
was succeeded by Mr. Bradstreet. Mr. Morton was eminent in 
every kind of learning, and so highly was he esteemed in this coun- 
try, that he was appointed vice president of Harvard college. Hav- 
ing a gentle and benignant temper, he was endeared to all his ac- 
quaintance. He wrote a number of treatises, but they are chiefly 
compendious, for he was an enemy to large volumes, often quoting 
the adage, jKjya ^tZxtav (Aiyu, xxkIv, a great book is a great evil. In 
Calamy's continuation there is a copy of his advice to those of his 
pupils, who were designed for the ministry. Two of his manuscripts 
are still preserved in this country ; the one in the library of the Mas- 
sachusetts historical society, entitled, compendium physicse ex au- 
thoribus extractum ; and the other in the library of Bowdoin college. 



442 MOR. 

entitled a complete system of natural philosophy in general and spe- 
cial. He publishedthc little peace maker; loolish piide the ma.^e 
bate, 1674 ; debts discharged, 1684 ; the gaming humor considered, 
and improved ; the way of good men for wise men to walk in ; sea- 
son birds, an inquiry into the sense of Jeremiah viii. 7 ; meditations 
on the history of the first fourteen chapters of Exodus, Sec. ; the spirit 
of man, meditations on 1 Thess. v. 221 ; of common places or me- 
morial books ; £UT«|<«, a discourse on improving the country of 
Cornwall, a part ol wtiich on sea sand for manure is printed in the 
philosophical transactions April 1675; considerations on the new 
river ; letter to a friend to prove money not so necessary as is im- 
agined ; the ark, its loss and recovery ; and some other treatises, 
m—Calamy^s account f ii. 144, 145 ; his continuation^ i. 177— 210 j 
JVonconform. meinorial i. 347 — 349 ; Collect, hist. soc. viii. 76. 

MORTON (Nathaniel), secretary of Plymouth colony, was 
one of its early planters, and for many years employed in the public 
service. He wrote in 1680 a brief ecclesiastical history of the 
church at Plymouth in the records of the church, which is preserv- 
ed by Hazard ; and New England's memorial, or a brief relation of 
the most memorable and remarkable passages of the providence of 
God, manifested to the planters of New England, 4to, 1669. This 
work, which is confined very much to Plymouth colony, was compil- 
ed principally from manuscripts of his uncle, William Bradford, ex- 
tending from 1620 to 1646, andJie had access also to the journals of 
Edward Winslow This work nas been of great service to succeed- 
ing historians.— .Co/Zcc/T. hist. soc. iv. 136 ; JSf. England's memorial ; 
Hazard's collect, i. 349 — 373. 

MOULTRIE (John), an eminent physician of South Carolina, 
was a native of Europe, and c^pae to Charleston about the year 1733» 
For forty years he was at the head of his profession. He died about 
the year 1773, universally lamented. He was the idol of his pa- 
tients. So great was the confidence reposed in his judgment, that 
those, who were usually attended by him, preferred his advice and 
assistance, even on the festive evening of St. Andrew's day, to the 
advice of any other professional man in his most collected moments. 
He possessed excellent talents for observation, and was very saga- 
cious in finding out the hidden causes of diseases and in adapting 
remedies for their removal. On acct>vmt of his death a number of 
the ladies of Charleston went into mourning.— /?awsa;/'« review of 
medicine., 41. 

MOULTRIE (John, M.D.), son of the preceding, and eminent for 
literature and medical science, was the first Carolinian, who obtained 
a medical degree from the university of Edinburgh, where in 1749 
he defended a thesis de febre fl. va. He was afterward lieutenant 
governor of East Florida.— jKa7?isct/*s revieiv of medicine^ 43 ; Miller's 
retrosfiect, ii. 364. 



MOU. 443 

MOULTRIE (William), governor of South Carolina, and a 
jnajor general in the American war, was devoted to the service of 
his country from an early period of his life. In the Chei'okee war 
in 1760 he was a volunteer with many of his respectable countrymen 
under the command of governor Lyttleton. He was afterwards in 
another expedition under colonel Montgomery. He then command- 
ed a company in a third expedition in 1761, which humbled the Cher- 
okees, and brought them to terms of peace. He was among the fore- 
most at the commencement of the- late revolution to assert the liber- 
ties of his country, and braved every danger to redress tier wrongs. 
His manly firmness, intrepid zeal, and cheerful exposure of every 
thing, which he possessed,added weight to his counsels, and induced 
others to join him. In the beghiningof the war he was colonel of the 
second regiment of South Carolina. His defence of Sullivan's 
island with three hundred and forty four regulars and a few militia, 
and his repulse of the British in their attack upon the fort June* 28, 
1776 covered him with honor. In consequence of his good con- 
duct he received the unanimous thanks of congress, and in compli- 
ment to him the fort was from that time called fort Moultrie. In 
1779 he gained a victory over the British in the battle near Beaufort. 
In 1780 he was second in^command in Charleston during the siege. 
After the city surrenderea he was sent to Philadelphia. In 1782 
he returned with his countrymen and was repeatedly chosen governor 
of the state till the infirmities of age induced him to withdraw to the 
peaceful retreat of domestic life. He died at Charleston September 
27, 1805, in the seventy sixth year of his age. The glory of his 
honorable services was surpassed by his disinterestedness and in- 
tegrity. An attempt was once made on the part of the British to 
bribe him, and he was thought to be more open to corruption, as he 
had suffered much in his private fortune. But resolving to share 
the fate of his country, he spurned the offers of indemnification and 
preferment, which were made him. He was an unassumint;-, easy, 
affable companion, cheerful and sincere in his friendships. He pub- 
lished memoirs of the American revolution, so far as it related to 
North and South Carolina, and Georgia, 2 vols. Bvo, 1802. This 
work is principally a collection of letters, written by civil and mili- 
tary officers in the time of the wixw—Hollingshcad's discourse ; U. S. 
gazette^ October 14, 1805 ; Rmnsai/s S. C. i. 146 ; Ho/iuai' annals^ 
ii, 352 ; Marfshall, ii. 389. 

MURRAY (Joseph), a friend of literature, was a native it is be- 
lieved of Great Britain, and educated in that country. He was one 
of his majesty's council and attorney general forthe province of New 
York. He left the whole of his estate, consisting of books, lands, 
and other property, in value to the amount of about twenty five 
thousand dollars, to king's college. — Miller, ii. C^57 . 

MURRAY (William Vans), minister of the United States to 
the Batavian republic, was born m Maryland jn the year 1761 or 



444 MUR. 

1 762. Having received an education preparatory to the practice of 
the law, immediately after the peace of 1783 ho went to London and 
resided three years as a student in the temple. At an age when the 
passions are generally unrestrained ; with u constitution of exquisite 
sensibility ; and in the midst of a splendid and luxurious metropo- 
lis, he retained the resolution and the firmness to devote his time 
and attention to tnose objects, which were to mark the usefulness of 
his future life. The observations of Dr. Price, of Mr. Turgot, and 
of the abbe de Mably on the constitutions and laws ot the United 
States being published during his residence in England he studied 
them with persevering and honest research, and gave the public the 
result of his reflections in a pamphlet, which was favorably received. 
In the summer of 1784, during a vacation, he made an excursion of 
about six weeks to Ho. land ; and during this short time, in which he 
tra^ysUed over that country, he was most assiduous in the use of his 
pen. The minutes, which he then took, he afterwards digested and 
methodized into a regular work. The intelligence of the death of 
his father, to whom he was most affectionately attached, reaching 
him at a time, when his health was precarious, he sunk under the 
affliction, and he did not rise from his sick bed for six weeks. After 
a tedious convalescence of several month^i he returned to his native 
country. He immediately engaged in the practice of the law ; but 
the voice of his country soon called him to her councils. He was 
first elected a member of the legislature of Maryland, and at three 
successive elections from 1791 to 1797 to a seat in the house of 
representatives of the United States. This station he filled with 
distinguished honor. His eloquence in debate placed him in the 
same rank with Madison and Ames, Giles and Dexter. A re- 
gard to his fortune, which was not affluent, and which was suffering 
from his devotion to the public service, at length induced him in 
1797 to decline being a candidate for reelection to congress. But 
his merit and talents had not escaped the discerning eye of Wash- 
ington, who in one of the last acts of his administration appointed 
Mr. Murray as minister of the United States to the Baiavian re- 
public. This station had been occupied about three years by the 
honorable John Quincy Adams, who now received a commission as 
Hfiinister plenipotentiary at Lisbon. Mr. Murn-.y arrived at the 
Hague at a very critical period of affairs, for the misunderstanding 
between the United States and France was approaching to a rupture, 
and the influence of the latter over the Batavian councils was uncon- 
trolled. But by a judicious mixture of firmness, of address, and of 
conciliation he succeeded in preserving uninterrupted harmony be- 
tween the American and Batavian nations ; and the first adv;inces 
towards a rcbtoration of the harmony between this coimtry and 
F'ance were made between Mr. Murray and Mr. Pichon, then 
charge des affaires at the Hague. These led to certain propositions 
from the French government for a rene;val of direct negotiatioii, 



NEL, 445 

which the American minister transmitted to his government. When 
the despatches were received by Mr. Adams, then president of the 
United States, lie thought that a regard to the honor and interest of 
his country obliged him to improve this opportunity for making an 
attempt to divert from the American people the calamities of war. 
Such w^as his confidence in Mr. Murray, that he nominated him as 
sole envoy extraordinary to the French republic to prosecute the 
negotiation. In compliance with the wish of the senate, Mr. Ells- 
worth and Mr. Davie were afterwards associated with him as col- 
leagues. He assisted in making the treaty, which was signed at 
Paris September 30, 1800, and which has contributed in a greatde- 
gree to the prosperity of America. Immediately after signing that 
instrument he returned to his station as minister resident at the 
Hague, where he remained till his return to the United States in 
December 1801, it having been judged unnecessary to continue 
the expense of supporting that mission. Fi'om this period he lived 
in retirement at his seat in Cambridge on the eastern shoi-e of Ma- 
ryland. His health, which had always been infirm, soon began to 
decline, and he died December 11, 1803, in the forty second year of 
his age. In private life he was remarkably pleasing in his manners 
and at once amusing and instructive in his conversation. With a 
mind of incessant activity he united the fancy of a poet. He had 
a strong and genuine relish for the fine arts, a refined and delicate 
taste for literature, and a persevering fondness for the pursuits of 
science. The keenness of his sensibility and the rapidity of his 
conceptions gave him a sense of decorum, which seemed almost in- 
tuitive. He perceived instantaneously and felt deeply every depar- 
ture from it ; but his wit and temper always led him to consider 
with good humor the improprieties of conduct, which presented 
themselves to his observation. Though both from principle and 
disposition he kept his powerful talent at ridicule under a well disci- 
plined control, yet it could not always avoid those resentments, 
which are the only defence of dulness and folly against it. His fa- 
cility in writing was proportioned to the vivacity of his mind. His 
letters by their elegance, their simplicity, their poignant wit, and 
imbounded variety of style, might serve as models of epistolary cor- 
respondence.-— GazfWe of the U.S. January 17, 1804; A". Y. herald^ 
Deceynber 21, 1803 ; Mr. Jdams' letter of Aiiril 26, 1809, in the Bos- 
ton fiatriot. 

NELSON (Thomas), governor of Virginia, was a distinguished 
patriot in the revolution, and uniformly ardent in his attachment to 
liberty. When Virginia was threatened to be made the theatre of 
war, he was appointed general by the legislature, and he took the field 
at the head of his countrymen. He was chosen governor in 1781. 
The officers at the siege of York witnessed his merit, and his at- 
tachment to civil and religious liberty. He died in February 1789., 
■*^American museum^ vii. 212. 



M6 NEW. 

NEW H AMPSHIRE,one of the United States of America, was 
first settled in 1623 by persons sent out by Gorges and Mason 
under authority of a grunt from the council of Plymouth. This 
coimcil had been established in 1620 by king James and he gave to 
it the territory extending from the fortieh to the loriy eighth 
degree of north latitude. The settlements went on but slowly for 
several years. In 1638 three associations lor government were 
formed ut Portsmouth, Dover, and Exeter In 1641 and 1642 the 
inhabitants of these towns voluntarily submitted themselves to the 
jurisdiction of Massachusetts, securmg to themselves the same 
privileges with the rest of the colony, and being exempted from all 
public charges, except such as arose among themselves. New 
Hampshire was separated from Massachusetts and a royal govern- 
ment established in 1 680, consisting of a president and council 
appointed by the king, and representatives chosen by the people. 
A change took place in 1686 and all New England was entrusted to 
a president and council. After the imprisonment of Andres the 
union with Massachusetts was revived in 1689, but in 1692 the old, 
separate government was reestablished. From 1699 to 1702 it was 
united with New York and Massachusetts, and from 1702 to 1741 
with Massachusetts. A separate government subsisted from this 
period till the revolution in 1775, when a provincial convention was 
formed. A temporary constitution was formed in 1776; anew . 
constitution was established in 1784, and this, being altered and W' 
amended in 1792, is the permanent constitution of the state. New * 
Hampshire suffered much in the Indian wars, and in all military- 
enterprises it took an active part. During the war in opposition 
to the encroachments of the British parliament its troops were 
distinguished. The constitution of this slate establishes a general 
court, consisting of a house of representatives, and a senate, the 
members of which are annually chosen. The governor also is 
annually elected by the people, and has a council to advise him.— 
Belknap* s J^. Hamfishire ; Hutchinson; Holmes' annals ; Douglass, 
ii. 22 — 51 ; Wynne, i. 202 — 218. 

NEW JERSEY, one of the United States of America, was fifst 
settled by the Swedes, and was formerly a part of New Netherlands, 
which was divided into Nova Caesarea, or New Jersey and New 
York, in 1664, when it was conquered by the English. It has its 
name from the island of Jersey, the residence of the family of sir 
George Carteret, to whom this territory was granted. Philip Car- 
teret was appointed governor in 1665, and took possession of Eliza- 
bethtown, the capital, then consisting of four families, just settled 
in the wilderness. In 1672 he was driven from his government by 
insurgents, who refused the payment of quit rents under pretence, 
that they held their ])ossessions by Indian grants and not from the 
proprietors. In 1673 the Dutch retook New Netherlands, but in 
the following year it was restored by treaty to the English. In 



NEW. 447 

167« New Jersey was divided into East and West Jersey. The 
government of the latter was retained as a dependency of New York, 
and a confusion of jurisdiction commenced, which lon,^ distracted 
the people, and which at length terminated in the annihilation of 
the authority of the proprietors. West Jersey was reinstated in its 
former privileges in 1680. Sir George Carteret in 1682 transfer- 
red his rights in East Jersey to William Penn. At this time there 
were supposed to be in the province about seven hundred families. 
In 1688 the Jersies were added to the jurisdiction of New England. 
They were united under one government in 1702, and received the 
single name of New Jersey. Cornbury, governor of New York, 
was appointed also to the chief command of New Jersey, and the 
vnion continued till 1738, when this colony received a separate 
governor. During the late war with Great Britain this state suffer- 
ed much. Her losses in proportion to population and wealth were 
greater than those of any other of the thirteen states. Her soldiers 
gained great distinction, and she can boast of places rendered famous 
by exploits ; places, which cannot be mentioned without bringing 
to the recollection the name of Washington, who earned in them 
the laurels, with which his head has been encircled by Ainericati 
historians. The present constitution of New Jersey was adopted 
by a provincial congress July 3, 1776. By this instrument the 
power of enacting laws is vested in a legislative council and a 
general assembly, the members of which are annually chosen. The 
govenior is appointed by a joint vote of these two bodies every year. 
He has a casting vote in the council, and with them is a court of 
appeals in the last resort. The judges of the supreme court con- 
tinue in office for seven years, and other justices for five years, and 
all are appointed by the council and assembly. — Smith's JV. Jersey ; 
Douglass, ii, 2 66 — 296 ; Wynne^ i. 202—2 1 8 ; Mod. universal hist, 
XKxix. 361—368 ; Holmes' annals. 

NEWMAN (Samuel), first minister of Rehoboth, Massachu- 
setts, was born at Banbury, England, in 1600, and was educated at 
Oxford. He came to this country in 1636. After his arrival he 
spent a year and a half at Dorchester, and then becoming pastor 
of the church at Weymouth continued there about five years. In 
1644 he removed with a part of his church and settled Rehoboth. 
He died July 5, 1653, aged sixty three years. While he was inde- 
fatigable in his study of the. scriptures, and animated and zealous in 
his preaching, he was also hospitable, charitable, and pious. In his 
last illness he sent for one of his deacons, and after requesting him 
to make a prayer, said, " and now, ye angels of the Lord, come and 
do your duty." He then immediately expired. He compiled a 
concordance of the scriptures, which was published in London in a 
thick folio, 164S. While he v/as at Rehoboth he revised it, using 
pine knots in the night instead of candles. It passes under the 
name of the Cambridge concordance.— TFood's Athenx Oxonienses, 



448 NEW. 

ii. 330; Magitalia, iii, 113 — 116; Holms'J annals^ i. 332, 3S3'j 
JVeal's JV. E. i. 359 ; Morton^ 176 ; Collect, hist. soc. ix. 191. 

NEW YORK, one of the United States of America,was discovered 
in 1608 by Henry Hudson, who passed up the river, which bears his 
name. His right to the country, which he had discovered under a 
commission from king James I, he sold to the Dutch. In 1614 the 
states general granted a patent for an exclusive trade on Hudson's 
river to a number of merchants, who built a fort near Albany. In the 
same year the Dutch were visited by captain Argal from Virginia, 
and being unable to resist him they submitted for the time to the 
king of England. The country was granted by the states general 
to the West India company in 1621, In June 1629 Wouter Van 
Twiller arrived at fort Amsterdam, now New York, and took upon 
himself the government. The extension of the English settlements 
naturally occasioned some disputes respecting the boundaries of the 
Dutch possessions. The last Dutch governor was Peter Stuyvcsant, 
who began his administration in 1647. The inroads upon his ter- 
ritory kept him constantly employed. In 1655 he subdued the few 
Swedes on the west side of Delaware bay, and placed the country un- 
der the command of a lieutenant governor. But he was himself oblig- 
ed at last to submit to the English. The country in the possession 
of the Dutch was given by the king of England to the duke of York 
and Albany. An expedition was fitted out, and on the twenty sev- 
enth of August 1664 governor Stuyvesant was I'educed to the 
necessity of capitulating to colonel Nicolls, and the whole of the New- 
Netherlands soon became sul)ject to the English crown. The coun- 
try was retaken by the Dutch in 1 673, but it was restored in the fol- 
lowing year. In 1683 the inhabitants of New York first participat- 
ed in the legislative power. Previously to this period they had 
been completely subjected to the governor ; but in this year they 
were summoned to choose representatives to meet in an assembly. 
In 1688 New York was annexed to the jurisdiction of New England. 
In 1691 a governor arrived from England and the first assembly af- 
ter the revolution was held. i 

From the influence of the French over the Indians and from its 
proximity to Canada New York suffered many inconveniences ; but 
the war against the French was frequently carried on with vigor, j 
and the friendship of the Indians was generally secured. While 
this colony was subject to England the government was vested in 
a governor and council, appointed by the king, and twenty seven rep- 
resentatives elected by the people. Vacancies in the council were 
filled up by the governor. The present constitution of New York 
Avas established by the convention, appointed for the purpose, April 
20, 1777. The members of the assembly are chosen annually, and 
those of the senate every four years. The governor is elected for 
three years. The legislature every year chooses four senators, 
who with the governor for their president form the council of ap- 



NIC. 449 

pbintment. This council appoints all officers civil and military, 
excepting the chancellor, tlie judges of the supreme court, and the 
first judges of the county courts, who hold their offices during 
good behavior, or till they have reached the age of sixty years. 
The governors since the revolution have been Clinton, Jay, Lewis, 
and Toinpkins.— 5;mV/!'* hist. JSt. York ; Mod. univers hist, xxxix. 
346 — 361; IVynne/i. 170— .196; Douglass, ii. 220 — 266; Holmes* 
amia's ; Brit, emiiire in America, i. 236—2 80. 

NICOLL (John, m. d.), an eminent physician in New York, was 
a native of Scotland and was educated at Edinburgh, receiving in 
the college of that city the highest honors, that belong to his profes- 
sion. Retaining the highest attachment to the doctrine, constitution, 
hnd discipline of the church of Scotland, after his arrival in this coun- 
try he was one of the px'incipai founders and benefactors of the first 
presbyterian church in New York, which was established in 1719. 
He spent a considerable part of his estate in erecting a house of 
worship. As a physician he was unwearied in his attention to his 
patients. The poor he cheerfully visited without the prospect of 
reward. After a life distinguished for benevolence and piety h© 
died October 2, 1743, aged sixty three yediVs,. —'Pemberton's funeral 
sermon ; Smith's ./V. York., 191. 

NILES (Samuel), minister of Braintree, Massachusetts, was 
born May 1, 1674 and was graduated at Harvard college in 1699. 
He afterwards preached for some time in Rhode Island in a district 
called ministerial lands. In 1710 he removed from Kingston to 
Braintree, where he was ordained minister of the second church 
May 23, 1711. In 1759, sixty years after he received the first 
honors of college, he took the degree of master of arts. He died 
May 1, 1762, aged eighty eight years. He published a brief and 
sorrowful account of the present state of the churches in New Eng- 
land, 1745 ; vindication of divers important doctrines, 8vo, 1752 ; 
Scripture doctrine of original sin, in answer to Taylor, Bvo, 1757. 

NISBET (Charles, d. d.), first president of Dickinson college, 
Pennsylvania, was born in Scotland in 1737, and was for many years 
minister of Montrose. During the struggle between Great Britain 
and her colonies, such was his attachment to liberty, that he dared 
to lift up his voice in favor of Amexnca. When Dickinson college 
Was founded at Carlisle in 1783 he was chosen its principal, thouglY 
he did not arrive in this country and enter upon the duties of this 
office till 1785. He died January 17, 1804, in the sixty sev- 
enth year of his age. His imagination was lively and fertile, and 
his understanding equally acute and vigorous. He possessed a 
memory tenacious almost beyond belief, a solid judgment, and a 
correct taste. By unwearied study his mind was stored with gen- 
eral erudition and miscellaneous knowledge in a very uncommon 
degree. He could repeat with great facility all the beautiful and 
striking passages of the classic authors. He was acquainted both 

58 



450 NOR. 



1 

■e» * 



Avith the ancient learned languages, and with the modern languages 
of Europe. His attention was directed to almost every subject, 
Wliilc he embraced the circle of tlie sciences, he also descended to 
every topic relative to public and private affairs, and thus he was 
qualified for leading the conversation in every company. His lec- 
tures in the college, which were designed to communicate the 
elements of knowledge, were plain and simple, but rich in solid 
learning. In private life he was a most entertaining companion, for 
his humor was excellent and exhaustless. His penetrating mind 
perceived relations and connexions among things, which escaped 
almost every other, and he was constantly enlivening conversation 
with flashes of wit. He was master of the lively anecdote, the 
smart repartee, the keen irony, and the delicate rebuke. His re- 
iTiarks on men were often severe and cutting, for being himself 
upright, he had a rooted abhorrence of deceit and chicanery in oth- 
ers. His independent mind scorned the idea of procuring favor or 
ensuring popularity by any means inconsistent with the most digni- 
fied and vu'tuous sentiments, and he had no respect for the man, who 
to obtain the one or the other would cringe to the multitude. His 
manners were gentle, unassuming, simple, and in the common 
affairs and tfaffic of this world he was a very child. His temper 
was cheerful, his morals unimpeached, and his piety unquestioned. 
As the principal of a college, as a minister of the gospel, as a true 
patriot, as a good man he has not often been surpassed. — 4sse7nbh/s 
miss, magazine^ iii. 286 — 288 ; Carlisle herald ; Gazette U. S. Feb- 
ruary 7, 1804. 

NORRIS (John), one of the founders of the theological sem- 
inary in Andover, was for many years a respectable nuerchant in 
Salem, Massachusetts. On the twenty first of March 1808 he gave 
ten thousand dollars towards establishing the institution at Andover. 
This was a day of unequalled munificence, for on the same day 
Messrs. Brown and Bartlet, merchants of Newburyport, gave tow- 
ards the same object the former ten thousand and the latter twenty- 
thousand dollars. Mr. Nonis lived to see the seminary opened on 
the twenty eighth of September. He died December 22, 1808, in 
the fifty eighth year of his age. In such esteem was he held by 
his fellow citizens, that he was for several years elected a member 
of the senate of Massachusetts. Obtaining, through the divine 
blessing upon his industry, an ample fortune, he considered himself 
as the steward of God, and his abundant liberality flowed in various 
channels. Though his extreme selfdiffidencc, and perhaps erroneous 
views of the (jualifications for approaching the Lord's table prevented 
him Irom making a public profession of religion ; yet when convers- 
ing on the subject he was often known to tremble. His house was a 
house of prayer, in which the morning and evening sacrifice ascended 
to the mercv scat, and lie was constant in his attendance on public 
worship. i3cing asked by a friend whether he did not entertain a 



NOR. 451 

hope, that he was a Christian, he replied in a solemn mannei', " I 
wouici not I'elinquish my hope, that 1 am a child oi God, for thous- 
ands of worlds."— Pano/j/fs^ and miss. viag. united, i. 487, 488. 

NORTH CAROLINA, one of the United States of America, 
was originally included in the territory, called South Virginia, and 
it was in North Carolina that the first English settlements were 
made in America. They were however broken up,' and the first 
permanent colony was established on the Chesapeak. This state 
was afterwards included in the grant of Carolina in 1663. It be- 
gan to be settled about the year 1710 by a few Palatines from Ger- 
many, who had been so much harrassed by a calamitous war, as to 
be very desirous of a secure retreat, even though it should be in the 
wilderness. They had scarcely taken possession of their fancied 
asylum in Albermarle and Bath precincts, when they fell a prey to 
the savages. The colony was almost destroyed, one hundred and 
thirty seven settlers being massacred. Assistance however having 
been obtained from South Carolina, the Indians were entirely de- 
feated and driven back. This was in the year 1712. After this the 
infant colony remained in peace and continued to flourish under the 
general government of South Carolina till the year 1729, when sev- 
en of the proprietors, for a valuable consideration, vested their prop- 
erty and jurisdiction in the crown, and the colony was erected into a 
separate province by the name of North Carolina, and its present 
limits were established by an order of king George II. It was made 
a regal government, the governor and council being appointed by 
his majesty. In 1771 there was an insurrection of a body of the in- 
habitants, who complained of oppressions practised in the law ; they 
called themselves regulators, and it was their object to prostrate the 
government. Governor Tryon marched against them, and totally 
defeated them, leaving three hundred dead on the field. At the 
commencement of the late war, the regulators espoused the cause of 
the British, and were defeated by colonel Caswell in February 1776. 
On the eighteenth of December following the present constitution of 
this state was adopted by a congress, appointed for the purpose. It 
establishes a general assembly, consisting of a senate and a house of 
commons, the members of which are annually chosen. The judges 
of the courts are appointed by the general assembly, and hold their 
olfices during good behavior. The assembly also annually elects the 
governor, who is not eligible longer than three years in six succes- 
sive years. He has a council of seven. — Wyime^ ii. 250 — 269;- 
Holmes* annals ; Morsels geography . 

NORTON (John), minister in Boston, was born at Starford in 
Hertfordshire, Englt-nd, May 6, '<606, and was educated at the uni- 
versity of Cambridge. After he had taken his first degree, he 
became usher of the school and curate of the church in his native 
town., A lecture was at tlis time supported at Starford by a num- 
\3tv of pious ministers, and through their labors Mr. Norton, whp 



452 . NOR. 



1 



■was himself a preacher, though like many others ignorant of his 
own character and unacquainted with the truth as it is in Jesus, was 
impressed with a sense of his sin, and by the agency of the Holy 
Spirit was brought to repentance. The view of his own heart and 
life, compared with the holy law of God, almost overwhelmed him 
ivith despair ; but at length the promises of the gospel administered 
to him inexpressible joy. His attention had been hitherto occupied 
in literary and scicntihc pursuits, but he now devoted himself ex- 
clusively to the study of theology, and being by his own experience 
acquainted with repentance, and fuiih, and holiness, he preached up- 
on these subjects with zeal and effect. He soon became eminent. 
His talents and learning would have insured to him preferments in 
the church, if his regard to the purity of Christian worship could 
have allowed him to submit to the impositions of the establishment. 
He embarked for New England in 1634, but a violent storm obliged 
him to return. In the following year he sailed again for this coun- 
try, and arrived at Plymouth in company with Mr. Winslow in Oc- 
tober. He preached in this town during most of the winter, and was 
earnestly invited to take the charge of the church ; but the state of 
things in the colony did not please him. Early in 1636 he removed 
to Boston, where he was highly respected, being consulted by the 
magistrates in some of their most difficult affairs. Before the close 
of the year he accepted an invitation to settle in Ipswich, where a 
church had been gathered in 1634. In 1639 Mr. Rogers was es- 
tablished as his colleague. While Mr. Norton was minister of 
Ipsvsrich he wrote a number of books, which procured him a high 
reputation. He assisted in forming the Cambridge platform, which 
was adopted in 1648. After the death of Mr, Cotton at the close 
of 1652, the church in Boston applied to Mr. Norton to become 
their minister. He accordingly preached in that town for some 
time with the consent of his people ; but after the death of Mr. 
Rogers in 1655 they reclaimed him. Though a number of coun- 
cils, called upon the occasion, advised liis removal to Boston, the 
inhabitants of Ipswich declined giving him a dismission. At length 
the governor and magistrates were under the necessity of summon- 
ing a council, whose advice or result was followed, as it was consid- 
ered as partaking more of the nature of authority. From this pe- 
riod he was the minister of Boston, and was eminently useful. 
After the restoration of Charles II it was thought necessary to ad- 
dress him. Mr. Norton and Simon Bradstreet were accordingly 
appointed the agents of Massachusetts for the purpose. They 
sailed for England in February 1662 and returned in September, 
bringing with them a letter from the king, in which he promised to 
confirm the charter, but required that the administration of justice 
should be in his name, and that all persons of good and honest lives 
should be admitted to the sacrnment of the Lord's supper, and their 
phildren to baptism. The agents, who had taith fully endeavored to 



NOR. 453 

serve the colony, on their return met with a cold reception, and the 
smothered grief of Mr. Norton on account of the ill treatmentf 
which he received, it is thought hastened his end. He died sud- 
denly April 5, 1663, aged near fifty seven years. He left nq 
children. Mr. Davenport succeeded him in the ministry. 

Mr. Norton was an eminent scholar and divine. In controversy- 
he was very acute, for his powerful talents had been cultivated by 
an excellent education, and he was familiar with the subtleties of the 
schoolmen. In his religions sentiments he accorded with the first 
fathers of New England. The doctrines, for wi ich he contended, 
were the following; that there is one God subsisting in three 
persons ; that the will of God is the cause of all causes, and 
second causes the effects of the first cause ; that the will of man is 
an instrument disposed and determined unto iis action according 
unto the decree of God, being as much subordinate to it as the axe 
is to the hand of the hewer ; that man even in violating God's com- 
mand fulfils God's decree ; that the infallible ordering of the exist- 
ence of sin for a better end, and the forbidding of sin are not at all 
inconsistent, I5ut fall under the compass of the same one volition of 
God, which cannot be resisted or defeated ; that God is not the 
author of sin, and yet that he does not merely permit it, since he 
has decreed it ; that the reprobates freely commit such a measure 
of sin as fits them for the intended measure of wruth ; that man is a 
free agent, having a real efficiency, though subordinate to the first 
cause, which determines the second in its operation ; that all man- 
kind participated in Adam's sin and also have it imputed to them ; 
that original sin is the hereditary and habitual contrariety and en- 
mity of the nature of man against the whole will of God ; that God has 
elected whom in his wisdom and mercy he pleased to eternal life ; that 
the conversion of these is the effect of God's Spirit ; that good works 
are necessary as the way to salvation, but not as the cause ; that the 
only meritorious cause of salvation is the active and passive obedi- 
ence of Jesus Christ, which is imputed unto those, who believe, and 
is received by faith alone ; that only the elect believe in the Re- 
deemer ; that their belief or faith is the effect of special, absolute, 
irresistible grace ; and that the will is passive, not having the nature 
of a free agent, in the first reception of grace. His sermons were 
written with great care, and in his extemporary devotional perform- 
ances there was a variety and fulness and fervor seldom equalled. 
A good man of Ipswich used frequently to walk to Boston, a dis- 
tance of about thirty miles, to attend the Thursday lecture, and 
would say, that it was worth a great jovu'ney to unite in one of Mr. 
Norton's prayers. His example, according to Dr. Mather, was so 
much followed, that some young ministers were able to continue 
their addresses to God for more than an hour with great propriety ; 
and without wearying those, who joined with them. In his natural 
temper Mr. Norton was somewhat irascible, but being taught by 



454 NOY. 

the grace of God to govern his passions, his renewed heart rendered 
him meek, courteous, and amiable. Still a mistaken zeal lor the 
truth made him, as ii made his contemporaries, triendly to persecu- 
tion. He was convinced, that some difference of sentiment must 
be permitted, and wished that an erroneous conscience should be 
treated with tenderness ; but when the fundamental doctrines of 
Christianity were denied, or errors were supported by a contuma- 
cious will, especially if they produced disturbance in the state, then 
he thought it indispensably necessary to be acquainted, to use his 
own words, " with the huly tactics of the civil sword." The disuse 
of this instrument, in his opinion, gave opportunity for the rise of 
the man of sin ; the abuse of it maintained him ; but the good use 
of it would tend to destroy him. With these sentiments he prob- 
ably encouraged the magistrates in their persecution of the quakers, 
who in return represented to the king and parlianifent, that " John 
Norton, chief priest in Boston, by the immediate power of the Lord 
was smitten, and died." 

Mr.Norton wrote in Latin a letter to the famous John Dury, which 
was signed by forty three other ministers. A translation of it may 
be found in S. Mather's apology. In 1645 he drew up at the re- 
quest of the ministers of New England an answer to a number of 
questions relating to churcn government, which were sent over by 
William Apollonius under the direction of the divines of Zealand. 
This was the first Latin book ever written in this country. It was 
published with the title of reponsio ad totum quaestionum syllogen 
a clariss. viro dom. Gul- Apollonio propositam, ad componendas 
controversias in Anglia, Lond. 8vo, 1648. He published also a 
discussion of the sufferings of Christ, and the questions about his 
righteousness active and passive, and the imputation thereof in an- 
swer to a dialogue of Mr Pinchin, 12mo, 1653; this was written 
by the direction of the general court ; the orthodox evangelist, or a 
treatise wherein many great evangelical truths are briefly discussed, 
4to, 1654; election sermon, 1657; the life of Mr. Cotton, 1658 ; 
the heart of New England rent by the blasphemies of the present 
generation, a treatise concerning the doctrine of the quakers, by the 
desire of thdl^eneral court, 8vo, 1660; election sermon, 1661; a 
catechism ; three choice and profitable sermons on several texts, 
being the last sermons, which lie preached at the election, at the 
Thursday lecture, and on the sabbath, 1664. — Mather's life of JVor* 
ton ; maj^Jialia.) iii. 32^41 ; Morton, \77 ; J\^eal's AT. E. i. 357, 358 \ 
Hutchinson, i. 41, 188, 219 — 224; Wmthro/i, 91; Besse's suff. 
quakers, ii. 270 ; Holmes' annals, i. 278, 388 ; Hubbard's MS. JV. E. 
cA. Ixxiv; Collect ■ hist, soc. iv. 110. 

NOVES (James), one of the first ministers of Newbury, Massa- 
chusetts, was born in Wiltshire, England, in 1608, and was for 
some time a student in the university of Oxford. His mind was 
first impressed by the truths of religion through the preaching of 



NOY. 455 

Dr. Twiss. After he began to preach, as he could not conscien- 
tiously comply with the ceremonies of the established church, he 
accompanied his friend, the reverend Mr. Parker, to New England 
in 1634. They arrived in the month of May. Mr. Noyes preach- 
ed about a year at Mystic, now Medford, when he was invited to 
become the minister of Watertown ; but as he preferred a settle- 
ment with Mr. Parker, who had removed from Aggawam to New- 
bury, he was established as his colleague in 1635, having the title 
of teacher. He continued to discharge with faithfulness the duties 
of his office more than twenty years. After a long sickness, which 
he bore with patience and cheerfulness, he died October 22, 165 6, 
in the forty eighth year of his age. Mr. Noyes and Mr, Parker 
were the most cordial and intimate friends. In England they in- 
structed in the same school ; they came to this country in the same 
ship ; they were ministers in the same church ; and as Mr. Parker 
had no family, they lived in the same house Mr. Noyes was very 
much beloved by his people, for he was humble, gentle, and con- 
stantly desirous of doing them good. He was the implacable ene- 
my of heresy and schism. Though he could never submit to the 
ceremonies of the English church, he was not so averse to episco- 
pacy itself. He did not approve of a governing voie in the frater- 
nity, and he thought that ecclesiastical councils should have the 
power of inflicting censures upon particular churches. He was 
eminently skilled in Greek, and he had read the fathers and the 
schoolmen. His memory was tenacious, his invention rich, and 
his judgment profound. While his manners were so amiable and 
his disposition so truly benevolent and affectionate, that no one was 
ever acquainted with him, who did not desire his friendship and so- 
ciety, he yet was resolute and determined in his defence of the truth. 
He Avas considered as one of the most eminent men in his day. 
He published the temple measured, or a brief survey of the temple 
mystical, which is the instituted church of Christ, 4to, 1647 ; a 
catechism, which was reprinted in 1797 ; Moses and Aaron, or the 
rights of church and state, contained in two disputations, the former 
concerning the church, the latter asserting the sacredness of the 
persons of kings against king killing. This was published by Mr. 
Woodbridge of England in 1661. — Mathei-'s magnalia, iii. 145 — 
148 ; Morse a?id Parish's JV. E. 92, 93 ; Collect, hist, soc, vii. 242 ; 
Popkins' dedicat. sermon. 

NOYES (James), the first minister of Stonington, Connecticut, 
was the second son of the preceding, and was graduated at Harvard 
college in 1659, being educated at the expense of his uncle, the 
reverend Mr. Parker. In the year 1664 he began to preach at 
Stonington, where he was ordained September 10, 1674 After 
imparting religious instruction to this people fifty five years and a 
half he died December 30, 1719, aged near eighty one years. His 
brother, Moses Noyes, was the first minister of Lyme, and died 



456 NOY. 

November 10, 1729, at the age of eighty five years, sixty of vvhic 
he spent with his people. Mr. Noyes of Stonington was a distin- 
guished preacher, carrying an uncommon fervor and heavenly zeal 
into all his public performances. His ordinary conversation breath- 
ed the spirit of the world, to which he was endeavoring to guide 
his fellow men. In ecclesiastical controversies he was eminently 
useful. Being a friend of literature he was one of the first trustees 
of Yale college. He was also a counsellor in civil affairs at some 
critical periods. As a physician he was much consulted, and he 
gave away annually the amount of his salary in medicines. But 
he most delighted in his ministerial work, for his tenderness and 
faithfulness in which he was highly esteemed and beloved. — 'Boston 
newsletter.) January 4, 1720 ; TrunibuWs Connecticut., i. 522. 

NOYES (Nicholas), minister of Salem, Massachusetts, was 
the nephew of the reverend Mr. Noyes of Newbury, and was born 
in that town December 22, 1647. He was educated at the expense 
of his uncle, the reverend Mr. Parker, receiving the first honors of 
Harvard college in 1667. After having preached thirteen years in 
Haddam, Connecticut, he removed to Salem, where he was ordain- 
ed as colleague with the reverend Mr. Higginson November 14, 
1683. Mr, George Curwin was settled with him in 1714, but he 
died in 1717. Mr. Noyes himself, after a ministry of thirty four 
years, died December 13, 1717, being almost seventy years of age. 
He v/as never married. Acquainted with all the literature of the 
times, and having uncommon talents for his sacred work, his death 
was deeply and generally lamented. He was entertaining and use- 
ful in conversation, of eminent sanctity and virtue, and always so- 
licitous for the welfare of his people. But with all his good quali- 
ties he unhappily believed the reality of witchcraft and had some 
influence in promoting those legal inquiries in 1692, which reflect 
so much disgrace upon tne age. He afterwards however publicly 
confessed his error without offering any excuse for himself, or con- 
cealing any circumstance ; and he visited and blessed the survivors, 
whom he had injured, asking always their forgiveness. Such con- 
duct reflects the highest honor upon his character. A letter of his 
containing an account of Mr James Noyes is preserved in Mather's 
magnalia. He published the election sermon, 1698 ; and a poem 
on the death of the reverend Joseph Green of Salem village, 1715. 
■^-Collect, hist. sac. vi. 264, 267, 273, 286 ; Truriibull's Connecticut, 
i. 520; Magnalia.Wi. 145 — 148. 

OAKES (Urian), president of Harvard college, was born in 
England about the year 1631, and was brouR-ht to America in his 
childhood. A sweetness of disposition exhil)ited itself early and 
remained with him through life. He was graduated at Harvard 
college in 1649. While very young and small he published at 
Cambridge a set of astronomical calculations with this apposite 
motto ; 

Parvum parva decent, sed inest sua gratia parvis. 



I 



OCC. 457 

He soon went to EngUmd, and was cettled in the miristry at 
ritchfieid in Hampshire. Being silenced in 1662 with the other 
nonconforming ministers, he found an asylum in a respectable fam- 
ily, and afterwards preached in another congregation. Such was 
his celebrity for learning and piety, that the church and society of 
Cambridge on the decease of Mr. Mitchel in 1678 sent a messen- 
ger to England to invite him to become their muiister. He accept- 
ed the invitation, but through various circumstances did not com- 
mence his labors in Cambridge till November 8, 1671. Being 
placed at the head of Harvard college after the death of Dr. Hoarj 
he commenced the duties of this oflice April 7, 1675, still however 
retaining the charge of his flock. But on the second ot February 
lesd" the corporation appointed him president, and persuaded him 
to be inaugurated, and to devote himself exclusively to this objecti 
He died July 25, 1681, in the tittieth year of his age, and was suc- 
ceeded by Mr. Rogers in tlie college, and by Mr. Gookin in the 
church of Cambridge. He was a man of extensive erudition 
and distinguished usefulness. He excelled equally as a scholar, 
as a divine, and as a Christian. By his contemporaries he was 
considered as one of the most resplendent lights, that ever shone 
in this part of the world. He was very humble with all his great- 
ness, like the full ear of corn, which hangs near the ground. In 
the opinion of Dr. Mather America never had a^greater mas- 
ter of the true, pure, Ciceronian Latin, of his skill in Avhich lan- 
guage an extract from one of his commencement orations is pre- 
served as a specimen in the magnalia. He published an artil- 
lery election sermon^ entitled, the unconquerable, all conquering, 
and more than conquering Christian soldier, 1672 ; election sermon 
1673 ; a sermon at Cambridge on the choice of their military offi- 
cers ; a fast sermon; and an elegy in poetry on the death of the 
reverend Mr. Shepard of Charlestown, 1678. This is pathetic and 
replete with imagery. — Holmes* hist. Cambridge ; and annals, ii, 
452 ; Collect', hist. soc. vii. 31,51 — 54 ; Mather's juagnalia/iv. 129, 
186— .188, 190 ; JVeal's JV. E.ii. 41, 42 ; Mmconform. memorial^ ii. 
280—282. 

OCCUM (Sampson), an Indian minister of the Moheagan tribe, 
was a heathen till the age of eighteen, when he embraced Christ- 
iatfity. He was for three years the pupil of the reverend Dr. 
Whcelock. He was for eleven years a schoolmaster on long Isl- 
and, officiating at the same time as the public teacher of the Indian 
tribe at Montauk till his ordination by the Suffolk presbytery Aug- 
ust 2 9, 1759. He was afterwards employed on several missions to 
various tribes of Indians, particularly to the six nations. In 1765 
or 1766 he accompanied the reverend Mr. Whitaker to London to 
solicit benefactions for D;\ Wheelock's school. About the year 
1786 he with the scanty remnant of the Muhheakaneok Indians, 
who lived on the sea coast in Connecticut, removed to the ncighbor- 

59 



458 OGD, 

hood of Oneida in the state of New York. He was at first the- 
minister of Brotherton ; but for the last years of his life he resided 
•with the Indians at New Stockbridge. He died in July 1792, aged 
sixty nine years. Upwards of three hundred Indians attended his- 
funeral. At his first entrance on the ministry and for a considera- 
ble time after he was respected in his Christian and ministerial 
character. He preached with acceptance to the polished inhabitants 
of Boston and New York. An account of the Montauk Indians, 
written by him, is preserved in the historical collections. He says, 
that they had a multitude of gods. — BueWs ordinal, serm. and letter 
to Bostwick; Collect, hist. soc. iv. 68 ; v. 13 ; ix. 89, 90 ; x. 105 — 
111. 

OGDEN (Jacob), a physician of New York, published about the 
year 1764 observations on a species of the sore throat, then preva- 
lent and mortal. — Ramsay's revieiv oj" medicine, 36 ; Miller, i 319. 

OGDEN (Matthias), brigadier general in the army of the 
United States, took an early and a decided part in the late contest 
with Great Britain. He joined the army at Cambridge, and such was 
his zeal and resolution, that he accompanied Arnold in penetratini;' 
through the wilderness to Canada. He was engaged in the attack 
upon Quebec and was carried wounded from the place of engage- 
ment. On his return from this expedition he was appointed to the 
command of a regiment, in which station he continued until the 
conclusion of%e war. When peace took place he was honored by 
congress with a commission of brigadier general. He died at Eliz- 
abeihtown. New Jersey, March 31, 1791. He was distinguished 
for his liberality and philanthropy. He was generous, arhiable, 
and endeared to his friends. — Gazette of the U. S. A^iril 13, 1791. 

OGLETHORPE (James), the founder of Georgia, was boni in 
England about the year 1688. Entering the army at an early age, 
he served under prince Eugene, to whom he became secretary and 
aid de camp. On the restoration of peace he was returned a mem- 
ber of parliament, and distinguished himself as a useful senator by 
proposing several regulations for the benefit of trade, and a reforVn 
m the prisons. His philanthrophy 's commemorated in Thompson's* i 
seasons. His benevolence led him in 1732 to become one of the » 
trustees of Georgia, a colony, the design of whose settlement was 
principally to rescue many of the inhabitants of Great Briton 
from the miseries of poverty, to open an asylum for the persecuted 
proicstants of Europe, and to carry to the natives the blessings of 
Cluistianitv. In the prosecution of this design Mr. Oglethorpe 
embarked in Noventber with a number of emigrants, and arriving 
at Carolina in tlic middle of January 1733, he proceeded immedi- 
ately to Savannah river, and laid the foundation of the town of Sa- 
vannah. He made treaties with the Indians, and crossed the At- 
lantic several times to promote the interests of the colony. Being 
appointed general and commander in chief of his majesty's force?. 



OGL. 459 

in South and Carolina Georgia, he brought from England in 1738 a 
regiment of six hundred men to protect the southern frontiers from 
the Spaniards. A mutiny was soon excited in his camp, and a dar- 
ing attempt was made to assassinate him ; but his life was wonder- 
fully preserved thi-ough the care of that providence, which controls 
all earthly agents, and superintends every event. After the com- 
mencement of the war between Great Britain and Spain in 1739 
he visited the Indians to secure their friendship, and in 1740 iie 
went into Florida on an unsuccessful expedition against St. Augus- 
tine. As the Spaniards laid claim to Georgia, three thousand men, 
a part of whom were from Havanna, were sent in 1742 to drive 
Oglethorpe from the frontiers. When this force proceeded up the 
Alatamaha, passing fort St. Simon's without injury, he was obliged 
to retreat to Frederica. He had but about seven hundred men, 
besides Indians. Yet with a part of these he approached within two 
miles of the enemy's camp, with the design of attacking ti.em by 
surprise, when a French soldier of his party fired his musket 
and ran into the Spanish lines. His situation was now very crit- 
ical, for he knew, that the deserter would make known his weak- 
ness. Returning however to Frederica, he had recourse to the 
following expedient. He wrote a letter to the deserter, desir- 
ing him to acquaint the Spaniards with the defenceess state of 
Frederica, and to urge them to the attack ; if he could not effect 
this object, he drected hina to use all his art to persuade them 
to stay three days at fort Simon's as within that time he should 
have a reinforcement of two thousand land forces, with six ships 
of war, cautioning him at the same time not to drop a hint of 
■admiral Vernon's meditated attack upon St. Augustine. A Span- 
ish prisoner was entrusted with this letter under promise of de- 
livering it to the deserter. But he gave it as was expected and 
intended to the commander in chief, who instantly put the deserter 
in irons. In the perplexity, occasioned by this letter, while the 
enemy was deliberating what measures to adopt, three ships of 
force, which the governor of South Carolina had sent to Oglethorpe's 
aid, appeared off the coast. The Spanish commander Avas now 
convinced beyond all question, that the letter instead of being a 
stratagem contained serious instructions to a spy, and in this mo- 
ment of consternation set fire to the fort, and embarked so precip- 
itately as to leave behind him a number of cannon with a quantity 
of military stores. Thus by an event l;)cyond human foresight or 
control, by the correspondence bctvveen the artful suggestions of a 
military genius and the blowing of the winds, was the infant colony 
providentially saved from destruction, and Oglethorpe retrieved his 
reputation and gained the character of an able general. He now 
returned to England, and never again revisited Georgia. In 1745 
■^he was promoted to the rank of major general*and was sent against 
,the rebels, but did not overtake them, for which he was tried by -i? 



460 OHI. 

court martial and honorably acquitted. Alter the return of Gage 
to Eni^land in 1775 the conimuiid ol" the British army in America 
was offered to general Oglethorpe. lie prolesscd his readiness to 
accept the appointment if the ministry would autliorizc him to as- 
sure the colonics that justice would be done them ; but the com- 
mand was given to sir William Howe. He died in August 1785 at 
the age of ninety seven, being the oldest general in the service.— 
Eu-ofuan mag. viii ; IVatkin'^ oiog. diet.; Brit. emji. in j^mcricay i. 
526; rri/«np, ii. 302 — 314; Holmes* annals, i\. 13\ — 158; Hcwatty 
ii. 15 — 22,47,57,77 — 82,111 — 119 ; Mars/iall,\. 5\8 — 344; Vtii- 
■ver.^al hist. xl. 440 ; Thojnjuoti'a seasons, 'winter, So'J — 388. 

OHIO, one of the United Sti.tes of America, was not settled till 
the year 1788. It was formerly included in Virginia, the legisla- 
ture of which state in 1781 ceded the territory northwest of the Ohio 
I'iver to the United States, reserving however several portions of 
land, and among them one lor the officers and soldiers, by which the 
British posts were reduced. The settlement in Ohio was com- 
menced at Marietta April 7, 1788, under the superintendence of 
geneial llufus Putnam. Before this time there were no inhabitants 
in the territory excepting the Indians, a few Moravians, and trespas- 
sers on public lands. Tiic country was at first under the jurisdic- 
tion of a governor, appointed by congress for three years, a secreta- 
ry, and a coiu't consisting of three judges. Thei'c was also a leg- 
isi .tive council and a house ofrepresentatives. It was to be admit- 
ted into the union whenever it contained sixty thousand free inhab- 
itants. This event took place April 28,1802. A constitution was 
immediately formed and adopted, and the government was organiz- 
ed March 3, 1803. The representatives are chosen annually and 
the senators and governor every two years. — Harris' tour. 

OLIVER (Daniel), a member of the council of Miissachusetts, 
was bom in 1664yand died in Boston in 1732. He was distinguish- 
ed for piety, humility, and charity from his youth. He always rose 
early to read the sacred volume and pour out his heart unto God. 
Through his mercantile business claimed much of his attention, yet 
he devoted Saturday afternoon to visiting the sick in his neighbor- 
hood. He was an overseer of the poor, and he sometin.es maintained, 
at his own expense a school, which received thirty of their children. 
He built for this purpose a house, which cost six hundred povmds, 
and in his will he directed it to be devoted to the instruction of the 
poor forever. He contributed largely to the promotion of the gos- 
pel among the ignorant and vicious. — Prince's fun. sermon. 

OLIVER (Andrew), lieutenant governor of Massachusetts, was 
graduated at Harvard college in 1724. After being secretary, he 
sustained the office of lieutenant governor from 1770 till 1774, dur- 
ing the administration of his brother in li^w, Mr Hutchinson. No 
man was more disposed to promote the designs of the British min- 
istry. His letters, which were sent over Ir Dr. franklin in 1773, 



OLI. 4^1 

disclosed his true character, and the disclosure embittered his r^ 
maining days. He died at Boston March 3, 1774, in the sixty- 
eighth year of his age.— Warren, i. 69, 84, 112, 115; GorcloUji. 
328. 

OLIVER (Peter, ll.d), chief justice of Massachusetts, was 
the biother of the pieceaing, and was graduated at Harvard college 
in 1730. He was appointed a judge of the superior court Septem- 
ber 15, 175 6, in the place of Mr. SaltonStall, who had resigned. 
His place of residence was Middleborough, and he had not been 
educated to Ihe law. In the year 1774. when the general court 
called upon him, as they called upon the other juuges, to receive 
the grant for his services, as usual, from the treasury of the prov- 
ince, and to engage to receive no pay or emolument except from the 
assembly, he peremptorily refused. In consequence of this refusal 
the house oi representatives immediately voted articles of impeach- 
ment in February ; accusing him of high crimes and misdemeanors. 
He died at Birmingham, England, in October 1791, aged seventy- 
nine years. He published a speech on the death of Isaac Lathrop, 
esquire, 1750. — Warren, i. 119 ; Gordon, i. 345; Boston gaz. 
March 7, 1774. 

ORONO, chief of the Penobscot tribe of Indians, died at Old 
town, an ishmd in Penobscot river, Massachusetts, February 5, 1801, 
aged one hundred and thirteen years. He cultivated among his 
subjects the principles of peace, temperance, and religion. In the 
time of the late war vvith Great Britain he formed a treaty with the 
American government, and faithfully adhered to it. His people 
profess the Roman catholic religion, and have a church. He re- 
tained his mental faculties to an unusual degree in his old age. His 
hair had long been of a milky white, and this venerable chief had 
lived to hunt in three different centuries. His wife, madam Orono, 
died in January 1809, aged one hundred and ^iitQii.— -Fiscal, cvang, 
mag. i. 200 ; JV. Y. spectator April 4, 1801. 

OSBORN (John), a poet, was born at Sandwich, Massachusetts, 
in 1713. His father was afterwards minister of Eastham on cape 
Cod. Young Osborn was graduated at Harvard college in 1735. 
Uncertain for a time what profession to pursue he directed his 
thoughts towards theology, and proceeded so far as to read before 
the association of ministers, with the design of being licensed to 
preach, a sermon, which was not perfectly orthodox. Having after- 
wards resolved upon the study of medicine, he removed to Middle- 
town in Connecticut. But little is known concerning hnn after this 
period. In 1753 he wrote to a sister, that he had lingered almost 
two years a life not worth having. He died soon after at the age of 
forty years^ leaving six children. Since his death one of his sons 
was a physician in MiddletoAvn. His manners were open, plain, and 
agreeable, and his temper cheerful and mild. His poetical produc- 
tions, written about the year 1735, possess much merit, especially 



462 OTI. 

in description, and previously to that period we find little American 
poetry equal to his. A bcautitul elegy on the death of a young sister 
is preserved in the Boston mirror. His whaling song has been 
Tnuch celebrated — American museum, v. 587 — 590; Massa. mag. 
"V. 1 1 — 1 ", 55 ; Boston mirror^ January 7, 1809 ; Collect, hist. soc. 
viii. 195. 

OTIS (James), a distinguished patriot and statesman, was the 
5on of the honorable James Otis of Barnstable, Massachusetts, and 
was graduated at Harvard college in 1743. After pursuing the 
study of the law imder Mr. Gridley, the first lawyer and civilian of 
his time, at the age of twenty one he began the practice at Plymouth. 
In about two years he removed from this town to Boston, where he 
soon gained so high a reputation for integrity and talents, that his 
services were required in the most important causes. In 1761 he 
distinguished himself by pleading against the writs of assistance, 
which the officers of the customs had applied for to the judges of 
the supreme court. His antagonist was Mr. Gridley. He was in 
this or the following year chosen a member of the legislature of 
Massachusetts, in which body the powers of his eloquence, the 
keenness of his wit, the force of his arguments, and the resources 
of his intellect gave him a most commanding influence. When the 
arbitrary claims of Great Britain were advanced, he warmly en- 
gaged in defence of the colonies, and was the first champion of A- 
merican freedom, who had the courage to affix his name to a pro- 
duction, that stood forth against the pretensions of the parent state. 
He v/as a member of the congress, which was held at New York in 
1765, in which year his rights of the colonies vindicated, a pam- 
phlet, occasioned by the stamp act, and which was considered as a 
masterpiece both of good writing and of argument, was published in 
London. For the boldness of his opinions he was threatened with an 
arrest ; yet he continued to support the rights of his fellow citizens. 
He resigned the office of judge advocate in 1767 and renounced all 
employment under an administration, which had encroached upon 
the liberties of his country. His warm passions sometimes betrayed 
him into unguarded epithets, that gave his enemies an advantage, 
v/ithout benefit to the cause, which lay nearest his heart. Being 
vilified in the public papers he in return published some severe 
strictures on the conduct of the commissioners of the customs, and 
others of the ministerial party. A short time afterwards, on the 
evening of the fifth of September 1769, he met Mr. John i^obinson, 
one of the commissioners, in a public room, and an affray followed, 
in which he was assaulted by a numlier of ruffians, who left him and 
a young gentleman, who interposed hi his defence, covered with 
Avounds. The wounds were not mortal, but his usefulness was de- 
■stroyed, for his reason was shaken from its throne, and the great man 
in ruins lived several years the grid" of his friends. In an interval 
©f reason he forgave the men, who h.'.d done him an irreparable in^ 



jury, and' Telinquished the sum of five thousand pounds sterling, 
which Mr. Robinson had been by a civil process adjudged to pay, 
on his signing a humble acknowledgment. He lived to see but not 
fully to enjoy the independence of America, an event, toAvardsvrhich 
his efforts had greatly contributed. At length on the twenty third 
of May 1 78 3, as he w<is leaning on his cane at the door of Mr. Osgood's 
house in Andover, he was struck by ajlash of lightning; his soul was 
instantly liberated from its shattered tenement, and sent into eterni- 
ty. President Adams, then minister in France, wrote respecting 
him, " it was with very afflicting sentiments I learned the death of 
Mr. Otis, my worthy master. Extraordinary in death as in life, he 
has left a character, that will never die, while the memory of tlie A- 
merican revolution remains ; whose loundation he laid with an en- 
ergy, and with those masterly abilities, which no other man possess- 
ed." He was highly distinguished by genius, eloquence, and learning, 
and no Americ.ui perhaps had possessed more ev^t.ensive informa- 
tion. Besides his legal and political knowledge, he was a complete 
master of classical lite-ature. He published rudiments of Latin 
prosody, with a dissertation on letters, and the power of harmony in 
poetic and prosaic composition, 12mo, 1760, which has been con- 
sidered the most clear and masterly treatise on the subject ; vindi- 
cation of the conduct of the house of representatives of Massachu- 
setts, 1762; the rights of the British colonies asserted, 1764; 
considerations oni^ehalfof the colonists, 1765. — Warren^ i.47, 85-— 
89 ; Monthly anthology, v. 222 — 226 ; Miiint's continuat.ii. 9 1 — 99, 
105, 132, 143, 196 ; Gordon, i. 141, 228, 271. 

OXENBRIDGE (John), minister in Boston, tvas born in En- 
gland January 30, 1609, and was educated at Oxford, where he was 
for some time a tutor. Becoming a preacher, soon after the year 
1634 he went to Bermuda, and took the charge of a church. In 
1641 or 1642, he returned to England, and was fellow of Eaton col- 
lege. In 1662 he was induced in consequence of the act of unifor- 
mity to go to Surrinam and thence to Barbadoes. He came ta 
New England in 1669, and was settled'pastor of the first church as 
colleague with Mr. Allen April 10, 1670. He died December 28, 
1 674, aged sixty five years. He was a celebrated divine and one of 
the most popular preachers of his time. He published a double 
watch word, or the dutv of watching and watching in duty, 1661 ; a 
proposition of propagating the gospel by Christian colonies in the 
continent of Guiana ; election sermon, 1671 ; seasonable seeking 
of God. — Wood's Athena Oxonicnses, ii. 536, 537 ; Mather's mag- 
nalia, iii. 321 ; Collect, hist. soc. viii. 277 ; A'oncGn/orm. memor.'u 
299, 300. 

PAGE (John), governor of Virginia, died at Richmond October 
1 1, 1808, in the sixty fifth year of his age. From his youth he was 
a man of pure and unblemished life. He was a patriot, a statesman, 
a philosopher, and a Christian. From the first commencement of 



464 PAR. 

the Americaii revolution to the last hour of his life he exhibited a 
firm, inflexible, unremitting, and ardent attachment to his country, 
and he rendered her very important services. He was one of the 
first representatives from Virginia under the present constitution of 
the United States. In 1800 he was chosen one of the electors of 
president. In December 1 802 he was chosen governor of Virginia 
in the place, it is believed, of Mr. Munroe. His residence was at 
Rosewcll. His conduct was marked by uprightness in all the vicis- 
situdes of life, in the prosperous and calamitous times, through 
which he had passed, in seasons of gladness and of affliction.— 
National intelligencer., October 19 and 24, 1808; Aurora. 

PARKER (Thomas), first minister of Newbury, Massachusetts, 
■was the only son of the reverend Robert Parker, who was driven 
out of England for puritanism in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. 
He was born in 1595. After having been for some time a student 
at Oxford, he pursued his studies in Ireland under Dr. Usher. 
Thence he went to Holland, where he enjoyed the assistance of Dr. 
Ames, and gained the particular esteem of Maccovius. After re- 
ceiving the degree of master of arts at the age of twenty two, he 
returned to Newbury in England, where he preached and was the 
instructer of a scliool. He came to this country with a number of 
Christian friends in May 1634, and immediately went to Aggawam, 
or Ipswich, where he continued about a year as an assistant to Mr. 
W^ard. In 1635 he commenced the settlement of Newbury, and 
was chosen pastor and Mr. Noyes teacher of the church. He died 
in April 1677 in the eighty second year of his age, leaving behind 
him the character of an eminent scholar, and of a most pious and 
benevolent Christian. His whole life was employed in prayer, studj'-, 
preaching, and teaching school. Through his incessant api lication he 
became blind several years before his death. Under this heavy ca- 
lamity he was patient and cheerful, and used to say in reference to 
his darkened eyes, " they will be restored shortly in the resurrec- 
tion." Having never been married, he yet with parental affection 
gave a number of young gentlemen the advantages of a public ed- 
ucation. In his views of church government he was inclined to 
presbyterianism. He devoted himself much in the hitter part of 
his life to the study of the scripture prophecies, and wrote several 
volumes upon the subject in Latin. Some theses de traductione pec- 
catoris ad vitam, written by him at an early age, were printed with 
some works of Dr. Ames. He also published a letter to a member 
of the Westminster assembly, declaring his judgment touching the 
government in the churches of England, 1644; the visions and 
prophecies of Daniel expounded, 4to, 1646; a letter to his sister, 
Mrs. Avery, touching sundry opinions by her maintained, 1649. 
— Mat/ier'a ynagnalia, iii. 143 — 145, 147; Morse and Pariah's jY. 
E. 87, 90 — 93 ; Collect, hist. soc. ix. 48 ; Pojd-in's dedicat. serm. 



PAR. 465 

PARKER (Samuel, D.D.), bishop of the episcopal church in 

Massachusetts, was born at Portsmouth in New Hampshire in 1745 
and was graduated at Harvard colle;^e in 1763. He was afterwards 
nine years an instructer of youth in Newbury Port and other towns. 
In 1773 he went to England for orders, and having been ordained 
by the bishop of London returned to Boston, and May 19, 1774 was 
established as assistant minister at trinity church, of \yhich he be- 
came the rector in 1779. During the revolutionary war the other 
episcopal clergymen quitted the country, but he remained at iiis 
post, and his church was saved from dispersion. After the deuth 
of bishop Bass he was elected his successor, but he was at the head 
of the episcopal churcnes in Massachusetts but a few months. 
He died suddenly at Boston December 6, 1804, in the sixtieth year 
of his age. Distinguished for his benevolence he was in a peculiar 
manner the friend of the poor, who in his death mourned the loss of 
a father. He published the election sermon, 1793, and some other 
occasional cnszouvses.'— Gardiner's serm. on his death ; Monthly an- 
thology, i. 670. 

PARK MAN (Ebenezer), first minister of Westborough, Mas- 
sachusetts, was graduated at Harvard college in 1721, and was or- 
dained October 28, 1724, the day, on which tlie church was gathered. 
After continuing his ministerial labors near sixty years, he died 
December 9, 1782, in the eightieth year of his age. He married a 
daughter of the reverend Mr. Breck. of Marlborough. A short 
account of Westborough written by him .is printed in the historical 
collections. He published reformers and intercessois sought for by- 
God, 1752 ; a convention sermon, 1761. — Whitney's hist. Worcester, 
120, 123 ; Collect, hist. soc. x. 84—86. 

PARSONS (Jonathan), minister in Newbury Port, Massachu- 
setts, was graduated at Yale college in • 729, having given indica- 
tions of an uncommon genius. Soon after he began to preach, he 
was ordained minister of Lyme in Connecticut, where he continued 
several years. The last thirty years of his life were spent at New- 
bury Port in one of the largest congregations in America. His labors 
were incessant and he sometimes sunk under his exertions. Dur- 
ing bis last sickness he enj( yed the peace of a Christian. He ex- 
pressed his unwavering assurance of an interest in the favor of God 
through the Redeemer, and his desire of meetmg death. He died 
July 19, 1776. Mr. Parsons was a presbyterian minister, and he 
maintained a correspondence with a number of learned ministers of 
the church of Scotland. As a preacher he was eminently useful. 
During some of the first years of his ministry his style was remark- 
ably correct and eleg:mt ; but after a course of years, when his at- 
tention was occupied by things of greater importance, his manner of 
writing was less polished, though perhaps it lost nothing of its pathos 
and energy. In his preaching he dwelt much and with earnestness 
upon the doctiines of grace, knowing it to be the design of the 

60 



466 PAR. 

Christian religion to humble the pride of man and to exalt the grace 
of God. He labored to guard liis people both against the giddy 
wildness of enthusiasm, and the licentious tenets ot antmomian de- 
lusion. His invention was iruitfu), his imagination rich, his voice clear 
and commanding, varying wiih every varying passion, now forcible, 
majestic, terriiying, and now soft, and persuasive, and melting. His 
zealous and indefatigable exertions were not in vain. During his 
ministry at Lyme, at a period of uncommon eft'usion of God's Spirit 
of grace, he indulged the belief, that near two hundred of his people 
were renewed i;i tiie dispositions of their minds, and enlightened by 
the truth as it is in Jesus ; and his labors at Newbury Port were 
attended by a happy revival of religion. He was emhient as a 
scholar, for he was familiar with the classics, and he was skilled m the 
Latin, Greek, and Hebrew languages. He was accounted a dexter- 
ous and masterly reasoner. He published a sermon preached at 
Boston lecture, 1 742 ; good news from a far country in seven dis- 
courses, 1756; manna gathered in the morning, 1761 ; infant bap- 
tism from heaven, in two discourses, 1765 ; a sermon on the death 
of the reverend George Whitefield, 1770; freedom from civil and 
ecclesiastical tyranny the pui'cha;;e of Christ, 1774; sixty sermons 
on various subjects in two volumes, 8vo, 1780. — Searl's sermon on 
his death. 

PARSONS (MosEs), minister of Byfield, Massachusetts, was 
born June 20, 1716, and was graduated at Harvard college in 1736. 
He devoted a number of years to the benevolent labors of a gram- 
mar school, and while the respect and the affection of his pupils 
were preserved by mingled dignity and mildness, he endeavored to 
impress them with religious truth, and to give them that instruction, 
Avhich might save their souls from death. He was ordained pastor 
of the church in Byfield June 20, 1744, and died December 14, 
1783, in the sixty eighth year of his age and the fortieth of his min- 
istry. The Maker of the human frame gave him a most graceful 
and commanding presence, a quick conception, a fertile invention, 
an easy flow of thought and expression, arorrect judgment, a resolute 
temper, and a large share of the kind and tender sensibilities. These, 
expanded by a liberal education, polished by a large acquaintance 
•with mankind, and sanctified by divine grace, made him eminent as 
the gentleman and Christian, the divine and the preacher. When 
he had once deliberately fixed his opinion or his purpose, no oppo- 
sition could shake him. He always carried the dignity and decorum 
of the Christian minister into his most cheerful hours, and though 
he often ind^dged his pleasant humor among his friends, yet he never 
degraded himself by the puerile jest, the boisterous laugh, or by 
vain, indelicate mirth. He usually mingled with his sprightly sal- 
lies some useful lesson of a moral nature. He knew how to be fa- 
miliar without meanness, sociable without loquacity, cheerful with- 
out levity, grave without moroseness, pious without enthusiasm. 



PAR. 467 

fsuperstition, or ostentation, zealous against error and vice •without 
ill natured bitterness ; aftUble to ail without tne least sacrifice ot nis 
ministerial dignity. There was a generous openness in his language 
and behavior, and one could almost discern his heart in his irank, 
honest countenance. He wtts influenced by enlarged benevolence. 
He was a zealous advocate of the civil and religious interests ot his 
beloved America. Eminent as a preacher he yet greatly excelled 
in the gift of prayer. His last hours were brightened with the 
hopes of the gospel. He anticipated the joy of dwelling in the 
presence of that divine Savior, whom he had served in his church 
below. He published the election sermon, 1772. — 'i'appan's sermon 
on his death ; Frisbie'a oration at his interment ; I'atiujilist, iii. 289 
— 292. 

Partridge (Ralph), first minister of Duxborough, Massa- 
chusetts, was born in England and became a minister of the estab- 
lished church ; but by the severity of the bishops he was hunted, 
like a partridge upon the mountains, till at last he resolved to get 
out of their reach by taking his flight into New England. He ar- 
rived at Boston November 14, 1636, and was was soon settled at 
Duxborough. In such esteem was he neld, that he was appointed 
with Mr. Mather and Mr Cotton to prepare a model of church gov- 
ernment lor the consideration of the synod of Cambridge in 1648. 
He died in 1658, having been a preacher forty years. He was suc- 
ceeded by Mr. Holmes. Such was his humility and self denial, 
that when most of the ministers of Plymouth colony left their pla- 
ces for want of a suitable maintenance, he was one of the few, who 
remained with their people.— -Mather's magrialiay iii. 99 ; Aeafs 
JV AM. 320; Morton, iii. 99; fVinthro/i, 114; Collect, hist. soc. 
ii. 7; iv. HI. 

PATTERSON (William), governor of New Jersey, and one 
of the associate judges of the supreme court of the United States, 
was a native of New Jersey and v/as graduated at the college in 
that state in 1763. He was a member of the convention in 1787, 
which framed the constitution of the United States, and his name 
is affixed to that in^strument. When the new government com- 
menced its operations in 1789 he was a member of the senate from 
New Jersey. He was chosen governor in 1790 as successor of Mr. 
Livingston, the first governor after the revolution. While a judge 
of the supreme court ot the United States he died at Albany Sep- 
tember 9, 1806. In this office he was succeeded by Mr. Brockhoist 
Livingston. He was an able statesman, an upright judge, and a 
disinterested friend of his country. He endured the sufferings of 
a lingering and tlistressing dicease with exemplary patience. Whtu 
he saw that death was at hand, he sent for a minister to receive 
from him the sacrament. The judge observed, that it had been 
for some time past his intention to receive that sacred rite, but that 
some casualty or other had always prevented him. He did not wish 



46S PAY. 

however to leave the world before he had fulfilled his duty. When 
the minister mentioned the quaiitications, which are required of 
those, who partake of that iioly ordinance, he acquiesced in them 
all, and remarked at tlie same time, that he had always been a be- 
liever in the truths ol Christianity ; that the only point, on which 
he had ever enteruiined any doubt, was the divinity of our blessed 
Savior ; but that he had long since examined that subject, and satis- 
fied his mind upon it ; that he had now no hesitation in professing 
his belief in all the doctrines of our religion. He then received 
the communion with the utmost devotion. When the minister, as 
he retired, expressed his apprehension, that they should not meet 
again, he replied " yes, 1 trust we shall ; we shall meet again in 
heaven."— Clarke's fun. sermon ; JV. York evening posty and J^T. Y, 
herald September IZy 1806 ; Mbany ccntintl ; PanopUnt^'iy. 191. 

PAYSON (Phillips, d. D.),ministerof Chelsea, Massachusetts, 
was the son of the reverend Phillips Pay son of Walpole, and was 
born January 18, 1736. He was graduated at Harvard college in 
1754. From the time of his ordination, October 26, 1757, he con- 
tinued to discharge the duties of the sacred office with zeal and 
fidelity till his death January 11, 1801, in the sixty fifth year of his 
age. He was succeeded by the i-everend Mr. Tuckerman. During 
the struggle, which terminated in the independence of America, 
Dr. Payson boldly advocated the cause of his country. As a clas- 
sical scholar he rose to distinction, and many young men received 
the rudiments of their education under him. His acquaintance 
■with astronomy and natural philosophy is evinced by a number of 
his tracts in the transactions of the American academy of arts and 
sciences. As a minister he was the friend and father of his people, 
and he preached with energy of diction and pathos of delivery. He 
published an election sermon, 1778 ; at the ordination of his brother, 
the reverend Seth Payson of Rindge, 1782 ; on the death of Wash- 
ington, 1800. — Barnard' a fun. sermon; Columbian centinel^ January 
21, 1801 ; Thacher's serm. at ordinal, of Tuckermayt. 

PEMBERTON (Ebenezer), minister in Boston, was graduated 
at Harvard college in 1691 and was afterwards tutor in that seminary. 
He was ordained colleague with the reverend Mr. Willard in the 
old south church August 28, 1700. After the death of Mr. Wil- 
lard he received for his colleague Dr. Sewall. He died himself 
February 13, 1717, in the forty fifth year of his age. Mr. Pem- 
berton was a very eniinent preacher. He wrote in a style strong, 
argumentative, and eloquent. With great powers of mind and ex- 
tensive learning he united a zeal, which flamed. His passions, when 
excited, were impetuous and violent ; but when free from the ex- 
citement of any unpleasant circumstance, he was mild and soft, as 
one could wish. While he was diligent in acquiring the treasures 
of learning, he was not negligent in his observitions upon man. He 
knew how to connect his thoughts ; the talent of reasoning he pos- 
sessed in a high degree, and he was a master of speech. He was a 



PEM. 469 

faithful servant of Jesus Christ, preaching the truths of the gospel 
witti zeal, and exhibiting in his lite the Christian virtues. In prayer 
he was copious and fervent. His sermons were illuminating, prac- 
tical, and pathetic, and delivered with very uncommon tervor. 
Towards the close of his life he was afflicted with much pain, but 
under his, weakness and infirmity he was enabled to do much for the 
honor of his master and the good of his brethren. His election 
sermon, pi'eached in 1710, entitled, the divine original and dignity 
of government asserted, and an advantageous prospect of the ruler's 
mortality recommended, is much and justly celebrated. It is re- 
printed in a volume of his sermons, which was published in 1727. 
Besides this volume, he published a discourse, previously to the 
ordination of Mr. Sewall, on the validity of presbyterian ordination, 
1718 ; a sermon on the death of the reverer^l Mr. Wiilard ; and a 
sermon at a public lecture, l705.—~SeivaU'sJun. sermon; Colman^s 
serm. on his death ; Holmes^ annals, ii. 94 ; Collect, hist. sec. x. 169. 

PEMBERTON (Ebenezeu, d.d.), minister in Boston, was the 
son of the preceding, and was graduated at Harvard college in 172 1. 
After he began to preach he was invited in April 1727 by the pres- 
byterian church in New York to succeed Mr. Anderson, the first 
minister, with the request, that he would be ordained in Boston. 
This ceremony was accordingly performed on the ninth of August. 
Through his benevolent exertions the congregation was greatly in» 
creased, so as to be able to build an edifice of stone in 1748. In 
1750 Mr. Alexander Cumming, afterwards minister in Boston, Avas 
settled as his colleague ; but both were dismissed about the year 
1753, the former on account of indisposition, and Mr. Pemberton 
through trifling contentions, kindled by ignorance and bigotry. He 
was succeeded by Mr. Bostwick. Being installed minister of the 
new brick church in Boston March 6, 1754, as successor of Mr. 
Welsteed, he continued in that place till his death September 9, 
1777, in the seventy third year of his age. The reverend Dr. 
Lathrop's society, whose meeting house had been destroyed by the 
British, united with Mr. Pemberton's in 1779. 

He was a man of a devotional spirit, who was zealous, and respect- 
able, and faithful in his ministerial work. He published a sermon 
before the synod, 1731 ; before the commissioners of the synod» 
1735; sermons on several subjects, 8vo, 1738; practical 
discourses on various texts, 12mo, Boston, 1741 ; on the death 
of Dr. Nicoll, 1743; at the ordination of Mr. Brainerd, 1744; 
artillery election sermon, 1756; election sermon, 1757; on the 
death of Mr. Whitefield, 1770; at the ordination of Mr. Isaac 
Story, 1771 ; salvation by grace through faith illustrated and con- 
firmed in eight sermons, Svo, 1774. — Smith's A^. F. 192, 193 ; CW- 
lect. hist, soc.in. 261. 

PEMBERTON (Thomas), eminent for his acquaintance with 
American history, was born in Boston in 1728 and for many years 
pursued the mercantile employment. He died July 5, 1807, aged 



470 PEN. 

seventy nine years, having lived a bachelor, devoting regularly a part 
of each day to his studies and to visiting his friends. He contributed 
almost a ninth part to the collections of the historical society of 
Massachusetts. Of this instiuiiion he was a member, and he be- 
queathed to it all his mdnuscnpts. He wrote a Massachusetts 
chronology of the eij<litecnth century, contwining the remarkable 
events of every year, biographical notices of eminent men, 8cc. in 
five MS. volumes. This work was used by Dr. Holmes in compil- 
ing his annals. His MS. memoranda, historical and biographical, 
make about fifteen volumes. — Collect, hist.soc. x. 190, 191 ; Amer. 
register^ ii. 76. 

PENDLETON (Edmund), a distinguished statesman of Virginia, 
was a member of the first congress in 1774, and was again appointed 
at the next choice, but in August 1775 he decUned a third election 
on account of his ill health. He was for many years one of the 
judges of the court of appeals of Virginia with Blear and Wythe, 
and was its president at the time of his death. In 1787 he was ap- 
pointed president of the convention of Virginia, which met to con- 
sider the constitution ol the United States, and all the weiglit of his 
character and talents aided its adoption. After the government was 
organized he was in 1789 appointed by Washington district judge 
for Virginia, but as he declined this office Mr. Cyrus Griffin was 
appointed in his place. In 1798, when the difficulties between this 
country and France approached almost to a rupture, the venerable 
patriarch, as the late president Adams calls him, published a pam- 
phlet protesting against a war with a sister republic. He died at 
Richmond October 26, 1803, in the eighty third year of his age.— 
Virginia debates in convent. 13, 17, 37, 312, 367, 388. 

PENHALLOW (Samuel), a member of the council of New 
Hampshire and treasurer, died at Portsmouth November 27, 1726. 
He wrote a history of the wars of New England with the eastern 
Indians from 1703 to 172 6, which was printed at Boston in 1726. 

PENN (WiLLiAAi), the founder of Pennsylvania, was born in 
London, October 14, 1644, and in the fifteenth year of his age en- 
tered as a gentleman commoner of a colle5ge in Oxf.M-d. His ge- 
nius was bright and his imaginalion lively. Being impressed by 
the preaching of an itinerant quaker, he, with a number of other 
students, withdrew from the established worship, and held meetings, 
by themselves. He was fined for the sin of nonconformity, butB!| 
this only confirmed him in his principles. He w >s then expelled in 
the sixteenth year of his age. Next followed the discipline of his 
lather, which was also ineffectual to reclaim him. Being sent to 
France for the refinement of his manners, he passed two years in 
that country, learned its language, and acquired its politeness. He 
then studied law in Lincoln's Inn till the plague broke out in 1665. 
He was sent to Ireland in 1666 to mmage an estate of his father, 
but he there associ^Ued himself with the quakers, and in .consc- 



PEN. 471 

quence he was recalled. He could not be persuaded to take off 
his hat in the presence of the king, or iiis lather. For this inflexi- 
bility he was turned out of doors ; upon which he commenc- 
ed an itinerant preacher, and gained many proselytes. Tnough 
sometimes imprisoned he was persevering, and such was his integ- 
rity and patience, that his father became reconciled to him. In 
1668 he published a book entitled " the sandy foundation shaken," 
for wuich he was imprisoned seven months. In vindication of the 
principles of this book, he wrote during his confinement his " in- 
nocency with her open face," and also his famous work, " no cross 
no crown." In 1670 he was apprehended for preaching in the 
street, and was tried at the old Bailey, where he pleaded his owii 
cause with the magnanimity of a hero. The jury returned their 
verdict " not guilty." On the death of his father he received a 
plentiful estate, but he continued to preach, to write, and to travel as 
before. He was shut up in the tower and in Newgate. On his re- 
lease he preached in Holland and Germany. It was owing to his 
exertions, in conjunction with Barclay and Keith, that the fraternity- 
was formed into order. His controversial writings are modest, can- 
did, and persuasive. His book, entitled, " the Christian quaker," 
is a sensible vindication of the doctrme of universal saving light. 
Some debts being due to Penn's father, at the time of his death, 
from the crown, and as there was no prospect of payment very soon 
in any other mode, Penn solicited a grant of lands in America, and 
in 1681 obtained a charter of Pennsylvania. The colony was planted 
in the same year, though before this time some Dutch and Swedes 
had settled in the province. In 1682 Penn himself arrived, and 
established a government, allowing perfect liberty of conscience. 
He made honest purchases of the Indians, and treated them with 
great tenderness. He formed a plan of a capital city and called it 
Philadelphia. Two years after it was founded it contained two 
thousand inhabitants. In 1684 Mr. Penn returned to England. 
One great motive for his return was to exert his influence in favor 
of his suffering brethren in Great Britain. He exerted it with 
success, and one thousand three hundred quakers, who had been 
confined in prisons, were set at liberty. While he remained in 
England he was suspected of being a papist, and an enemy to his 
country, and was a number of times arrested. But he continued 
his preaching and increased his controversial writings. In 1699, 
after fifteen yeavb* absence the American Lycurgus revisited his 
province. Having made some alteration in the government he 
sailed again for England in 1701. He resumed his favorite em- 
ployment, and continued it for a number of years. In 1712 he was 
seized by a paralytic disorder and died July 30, 17l8,inthe seventy 
fourth year of his age. Notwithstanding his large paternal inher- 
itance he was continually subject to the importunity of his credi- 
tors, and obliged to mortgage his estate. His death prevented his 



472 PEN. 

surrendering his province to the crown. His posterity held it till 
the revolution, his last surviving son, Thomas Penn, dying in 1775, 
Mr. Penn was a man of great aoilities, of quick thought and ready 
utterance, of mildness of dispjsition and extensive charity. He 
was learned without vanity, facetious in conversation, yet weighty 
and serious, of an extraordinary greatness of mind, yet void of the 
stain of anihition. He published a multitude of tracts large and 
small. The following is the title of his principal works ; no cross 
no crown, or several sober reasons against hat honor, titular re* 
spects, you to a single person, &c 4to, 1669; serious apology for 
the people, called quakers, against Dr. Jeremy Taylor, 4to, 1669 ; 
the spirit of truth vindicated in answer to a Socinian, 4to, 1672 ; 
quakcrism a new nickname for old Christianity, 8vo, 1672 ; reason 
against railing, and truth against fiction, 8vo, 1673 ; the Christian 
quaker and his divine testimony vindicated, folio, 1674. His select 
works have lately been published in 5 vols. 8vo. —"Belkna/i's jiiner. 
dzo^". ii. 38 1 — 450; Biog. Britan. ; Wood's Ath. oxoji.ix. 1050— 
1054 ; Proud, ii. 105, 106 ; Hohnes' annals, i. 455— .463 ; ii. 24, 
96 ; Pcnn's life prefix, to his loorks ; Marshall, i. 222 — 229. 

PENNSYLVANIA, one of the United States of America, was 
granted by king Charles H to William Penn March 4, 1681, and 
in this year a colony commenced a settlement above the confluence 
of the Schuylkill with the Delaware. In the following year the 
proprietary published a frame of government and a body of laws. 
All legislative powers were vested in the governor and freemen of 
the province in the provincial council, and a general assembly. 
The governor had a treble vote in the council, which consisted of 
seventy two members, chosen by the people, and the assembly at 
first embraced all the freemen, but as the colony increased it was 
limited to five hundred. Liberty of conscience was extended to all. 
A treaty was immediately held with the natives, and the purchase of 
the soil was commenced. The friendly intercourse with the Indians, 
which was now begun, was not interrupted for more than seventy 
years. The first settlers of Pennsylvania were chiefly quakers, who 
had suffered persecution on account of their religion. In 168 3 the 
first assembly was held at Philadelphia, and a new frame of govern- 
Tn?nt was adopted, by which the council was reduced, and the gov- 
ernor vested with a negative upon all bills, passed in the assembly. 
Mr. Penn being soon called to England, he entrusted the govern- 
ment to five commissioners. In 1788 he appointed a deputy, and 
in 1701 gave the people the last charter of privileges. From this 
period the government was chiefly administered by deputies, ap- 
pointed by the proprietaries, who usually resided in England. Jeal- 
ousies arose between the people and their governors, and disputes 
and dissension^ existed till the revolution. At the commencement 
of the late struggle with Great Britain the proprietary government 
was abolished. The constitution then adopted recognized a legisla- 



PEP. 473 

'.ut'U of but one brancli. Parties were formed, those, who disap- 
proved of It, being styled republicans, and its friends constitutional- 
ists. The government of tne state was alternately in the hands of 
these parties, till at length the lepubiicans triumphed, and the 
present constitution was established by a convention on the second 
of September 1790. It vests the legislative pov/er in a general 
assembly) consisting of a senate and a house of representatives, the 
members of the former to be chosen for four years, and of the latter 
annually. The governor is elected for three years, and no bill can 
pass without his assei'it, unless two thirds of both houses are in fa- 
vor of it. The judges of the courts are liable to removal for any- 
reasonable cause on an address of two thirds of each branch of the 
legislature to the governor. In 1794 an alarming insurrection took 
place in the western counties of this state, through discontent with 
an excise upon whiskey ; but by the decisive measures of the gen- 
eral government it was quelled almost without bloodshed. In 1809 
a part of the militia of Philadelphia was by the order of the gover- 
nor arrayed against the United States by obstructing a process of 
the supreme court ; but the federal authority in a short time quietly 
prevailed.— ProMof's A/s/. Pdnnsylvanict ; Franklin' s review ; IVynne, 
i. 219— .235 ; Douglass, ii. 297 — 345 ; British emfi. in ^nerica, 
i. 296^322 ; Mbrse'sgeog ; Holmes' annals; Findley's insurrect. 
PEPPERELL(SiR William), lieutenant general in his majes- 
ty's service, was born in the district of Maine, Massachusetts, and 
was bred a merchant. About the year 1727 he was chosen one of 
his majesty's council, and was annually reelected thirty two years 
till his death. Living in a country exposed to a ferocious enemy, 
he was well fitted for the situation, in which he was placed, for it 
pleased God to give him a vigorous frame, and a mind of a firm 
texture, and of great calmness in danger. He rose to the highest 
military honors, which his country could bestow upon him. When 
the expedition against Louisbourg was contemplated, he was commis- 
sioned by the governors of New England to command the troops. 
He invested the city in the beginnin^^ of May 1745. Articles oi ca- 
pitulation were soon afterwards signed. There was a remarkable se- 
riesof providences in the whole affair,and Mr. Pepperell ascribed his 
unparalleled success to the God of armies. The king in reward of 
his services conferred upon him the dignity of a baronet of Great 
Britain, an honor never before nor since conferred on a native of 
New England. He died at his seat in Kittery in the district of 
Maine July 6, 1759, aged sixty three years. He had a high relish 
for the pleasures of society and was the life and spirit of every com- 
pany. Though not without his faults, he yet respected the Christian 
character. During his last sickness he spoke v/ith gratitude of the 
goodness of God, which he had experienced, and of his own imper- 
fections and sins ; he admired the plan of salvation, made known in 
the gospel J knowing his dependence upon the grace of God hft 

61 



474. PER. 

sought the influences of the Holy Spirit; and as he ever professed 
a belief of the transcendent dignity and glory ot the great Savior of 
niankind, of the fulness of iiis merits, and the atoning virtue of his 
obedience and sufferings, when he was just entering the eternal 
•world he commended his soul into the hands of this Redeemer.— 
Stevens* fun. sermon ; Belkna^i'ii A*. 7/. ii. 2 13, 223 ; Gordon,,!. 1 12. 

PERKINS (William), remarkable for longevity, was born in 
the west of England, and died at New Market, New Hampshire, in 
1732, aged one hundred and sixteen years. — Belknafi's JsT. H.\\\.232. 

PERREIN (Jean), eminent for his acquaintance with natural 
history, was a native of France, and a member of the society of 
sciencJes and belles lettres of BordeHux. Possessing an excellent 
genius, highly cultivated by a liberal education, he had for unny 
years devoted t!ie greatest part of his time to the study of nature. 
With a view to the acquisition and diffusion of knowledge in botany 
and other departments of natural I/istory he travelled through Afri- 
ca and most of the West India islands- To complete his collect 
tion of birds, plants. See. he came to New York, where he spent 
several months : but he v/as cut down in the midst of his labois. 
He died at New York March 31, 1805, in the filly fifth year of his 
age. In Sonninni's elegant edition of Buffon's natural history credit 
is given to Perrein as the author of many of the most valuable com- 
munications, contained in that work. By his acquaintance he was 
uniformly esteemed as a man of the most benevolent heart, refined 
taste, and cultivated understanding. — .Atw Yark s/iectator, jijtril 3, 
1805. 

PETERS (Hugh), minister of Salem, Massachusetts, was born^ 
at Fowey in Cornwall in 1599, and was educated at trinity college, 
Cambridge, w!iere he took the degree of master of arts in 1622. 
He was licensed by the bishop of Loiulon, and preached in the city 
with gre.it popularity and success. Meeting with some trouble on 
account of his nonconformity, he went into Holland, where he re- 
mained five or si.^t years. He arrived in America with Richard 
Mather in August 1635. Ho took the charge of the church at Sa- 
lem December 21, 1636, disclaiming the errors of Mr. Williams, 
who had been minister before him, and excommunicating his ad- 
herents. During his five years ministry, one hundred and sixty 
persons joined his communion. He did not confine his attention to 
religious concerns, but took an interest in mercantile and civil affairs. 
He assisted in reforming the police of the town ; 'ne suggested the 
plan of the fishery and of the coasting and foreign voyages ; he 
procured carpenters, and engaged in trade with great success. His 
acal in worldly conccnis was prol)ahly the cause of his suppressing 
in Salem the weekly and occasional lectures, by which the good men 
of that d.iy were nourished up unto eternal life. Being considered 
as a suitable person to send to England to procure an alteration in 
♦he laws of excise and trade, he was appointed for this purpose, with. 



PET. 475 

Mr. W«lde and Mr. Hibbins by the general court, and sailed Au- 
gust 3, 1641. He never returned to America. During the civil 
wars in England he supported the cause of the parliament, and con- 
tributed much aid to it by his preaching. Burnet says, that he 
pressed the king's condemnation with the rudeness of an inquisitor, 
but Mr. Peters in his legacy declares, that he opposed it. He was 
appointed by Cromwell one of the licensers of ministers, and also 
a commissioner for amending the laws, though utterly disqualihed 
for the business. After the restoration he was tried for conspiring 
with Cromwell and compassing the king's death, and was executed 
October 16, 1660, aged sixty one years. He was charged by his 
enemies "with great vices ; but it is not probable, that the chai'ges 
were well founded. He was however weak, ignorunt, and carried 
away by his zeal. .If he had confined himself to the proper duties 
of a minister of the gospel, and had not engaged in parties, nor be- 
come the tool of the ambitious, nor exerted himself to stimulate 
the furious passions of men, he would have been useful and respect- 
ed, and niight have died in peace. Though he was ignorant, he 
possessed a native and peculiar vigor of mind. He had, the power 
of associating his thoughts in such a manner, as to prevent them 
from being easily forgotten. His coarse and familiar images never 
failed to answer his purposes, and his vulgar yet striking eloquence 
gained him thousands of hearers of London. Specimens ot his 
curious sermons are to be found in the trials of the regicides. In a 
life of him, written by W. Young soon after his death, he is said to 
have been expelled from college, though perhaps the representation 
cannot be credited, as he regularly took his degrees. He is said also 
to have been a stage player, and represented as a buflPoon. In an en- 
graving prefixed he is placed in the pulpit with a multitude before 
him ; his hour glass is turned, and he says, " come, my good fel- 
lows, I know you like another glass." The manuscripts of the 
three last books of Hooker's ecclesiastical polity tell into the hands, 
to use the words of Mr. Wood, of "■ that most notorious villain, 
Hugh Peters," and were altered so as to favor the popular cause 
against the divine right of the authority of kings. Mr. Baxter 
however, who did not think it an impeachment of good sense or 
learning to lean towards the side of the people, thoui-ht that Mr. 
Hooker's writings were not altered. Mr. Peters published a ser- 
mon, preached before both houses of parliciment in 1646; last re- 
port of the English wars ; a wotd to the army, 1647 ; good work 
for a good magistrate, or a short way to great quiet, 165 1 ; in this 
work he proposed the extirpation of the whole .system of laws, and 
recommended that the old i-ecords in the lower should be burn, d as 
records of tyranny, and that they should begin anew j brief aen den 
Vader la Chaize ; a dying father's legacy to his only child, 8vo, 
1660 and 1717. This has been spoken of with respect. It is pre- 
served in the New England library established by Mr. Prince oj 



476 PHI. 

Boston.— Fou«5-'« life of Peters ; Anonym. uccoiniCf fir. 1751 ; Col- 
lect, hist. 80C. vi. 249 — 254, 285 ; A/agnalia, iii,214 ; IVood^a Ath. 
Oxonienses.) i. 303, 304 ; Jieikna/i's jY, H. i. 48, 76 ; Hutchinson^ i, 
98, 165; ii. 490 ; Annual rct^ister for 1769,55 ; General hist. Con- 
necticut, 48. 

PHILIP, sachem of Pokanoket, well known by the name of king 
J*hilip. WuS the youngest son of Masassoit, and succeeded his brother 
Alexander in 1657. In 1662 he renewed the friendship, which had 
subsisted with tne English, and engaged not to dispose of any lands 
without their knowledge or appointment. In 1675 he commenced 
the war, which desolated New England. It is said, that he was 
pressed into the war by the importunity of his young warriors. As 
he loi esaw the loss of his territery and the extinction of his tribe, 
if the English settlements were permitted to extend and increase 
Avitnout interruption, he was determined to make one mighty effort 
to prevent these calamities. He in consequence lighted up the 
liame of wai* in various parts of the country. After doing much 
mischief, as he was endeavoring to escape from captain Church, 
■who had pursued him into a swamp, he was killed August 12, 1676. 
Thus, after deeds of heroism, fell king Philip of mount Hope in 
Rhode Island. Mr. Eliot once preached before Ivi^n, when he took 
hold of a button of the good man's coat, and said to him, " I do not 
value the gospel any more than that."' — Collect, hint. soc. iii. 159, 
171; Magnalia, vi. 30 ; Church's hist. ; Hutchinson, i. 279 — 307 ; 
Adams' JV. E. 126, 127; Mai's A". E. i. 352, 387; ii. 1 — 23; 
Holmes' annals, \. Aoi, 42,5 \ Callcnder, 73 — 81; Minot,i 67—69. 

PHILLIPS (George), first minister of Watertown, Massachu- 
setts, was born in the county of Norfolk, England, and was educated at 
the university of Cambridge, where he gained a high reputation for 
learning. Having, as he believed, been made a partaker of the di- 
vine nature through the renewing agency of the Holy Spirit, he 
devoted himself to the ministry of the gospel, and was settled at 
Boxford in Essex. But becoming a nonconformist to the ceiemo- 
nies of the established church, he came to New England with gov- 
ernor Winthrop in the Arabella, and arrived at Salem in June 1630. 
He immediately with sir Richard Saltonstailand others conmicnccd 
a plantation at Watertovvn. A church was formed on the thirtieth 
of July, when about forty members signed a covenant, binding them- 
selves to cleave unto the word of God, and " the true sense and 
meaning thereof." A confession of faith was afterwards added. 
The salary, settled upon the minister, was thirty pounds a year. 
Mr. Phillips died July 1, 1664, and was succeeded by Mr. Sherman. 
He was much lamented by his church, who expressed their respect 
to his memory by educating his eldest son, Mr. Samuel Phillips, 
who was afterwards minister of Rowley, and eminently useful. 

Mr. Phillips was well skilled in the original languages, in which 
the bible was written, and such was his attachment to the word «f 



PHI. 477 

God, that he used to read it through six times in ievery year, and he 
always found in it some thing new. As a preacher he was very 
feithtul and many were converted by means of his labors. Though 
very humble and modest he was an able disputant. He published a 
judicious work, entitled, a reply to a confutation of some grounds 
tor infants' baptism, as also concerning the form of a church put 
forth against me by one Thomas Lamb, to which is added a discourse 
of the verity and validity of infants' baptism, 1 64:5 .-—Mathej-'s mag~ 
nalia, iii. 82"— 84, 162 ; Frincej 205, 208, 212, 244, 247 ; Winthrofi, 
31, 256, 337 ; Collect, hist. soc. ix. 46, 

PHILLIPS (Samuel), minister 6f Andover, Massachusetts, was 
the grandson of the preceding. His father was ar. inhabitant of 
Salem. He was graduated at Harvard college in 1708, and began to 
preach in the souih and new parish of Andover April 30, 17 10. His 
ordination took place, it is believed, in the following year. He contin- 
ued faithfully to discharge the duties of the sacred office for sixty 
years till his death June 5, 1771, in the eighty second year of his 
age. Being sincerely attached to those views of religious truth, 
which were embraced by the first fathers of New England, he could 
not quietly see the efforts, that were made, to pervert the faith, 
which he was persuaded was once delivered to the saints. He ex- 
erted himself both by his preaching and his writings to guard his 
people against the intrusion of error. He contended, that all man- 
kind come into the world depraved in consequence of Adam's sin, 
and liable to punishment ; that men could as easily create themselves 
anew, as believe in Christ by a power inherent in themselves ; that 
God from eternity had elected those, whom he would save, and on 
whom he would bestow his efficacious grace to prepare them for 
salvation ; that men were justified on account of the righteousness 
of Christ, received by faith, and immediately upon believing; and 
that none, who were once in a state of justification would finally be 
lost. He published a word in season, or the duty of a people to take 
the oath of allegiance to a glorious God, 1727 ; advice to a child, 
1729 ; the history of the Savior ; the orthodox Christian, or a child 
well instructed, 1738; artillery election sermon, 1741; living wa- 
ter to be had for asking ; election sermon, 1750 ; the sinner's refusal 
to come unto Christ examined and reproved ; llie necessity of God's 
drawing in order to men's coming unto Christ ; convention sermon, 
1753 ; at ordination ot N. Holt ; at the instalment of S. Chandler, 
1759 ; seasonable advice to a young neighbor reluUng to five impor- 
tant points, 1761; serious address to young people in a dialogue ; 
a sermon to young people, 1763; on gospel justification, 1766. 

PHILLIPS (John, LL.D.), founder of the academy in Exeter, 
New Hampshire, was the son of the preceding, and was gro.cUiated at 
Harvard college in 1735. He was for several yenrs a member of 
the council of New Hampshire. On the twenty first of April 1 778 
he with his brother, the honorable Samuel Pliillips of Andover in 



478 PHI. 

Massachusetts, founded and liberally endowed the academy in that 
town, which was incorporated in 1780. In 1789 he farther gave to 
this institution twenty tliousand dollars. The academy, called Phil- 
lips Exete" academy, ot which he was the sole founder, was incorpo- 
rated in 1781 with a fund of fifteen tliousand pounds. He died in 
April 1795, aged seventy six years, bequeatuin;^ to this academy 
two thirds of all his estate, and one tliird ot the residue to the sem- 
inary at Andovcr, particularly for the benefit of pious youth. To 
this object his brother, the late honorable \Villiam Phillips of Bos- 
Ion, also bequeathed four thousand dollars. — Morse's gcog.s Holmes* 
an.ials; ii. 462 ; Conalztut. of theolog. seminary. 

PHILLIPS (Samuel, LL.D.), lieutenant governor of INIassachu- 
s-'tts, was the grandson of the reverend Mr. Phillips of Andover. 
His father, the nonorable Samuel Phillips, one of the counsellors of 
Massachusetts, died at Andover August 2 I, 1790, aged seventy six 
years. Mr. Pniilips was graduated at Harvard college in 1771. He 
•was a member of the provincial congress in 1775, and ot the house 
of representatives till the year 1780, wlieu he assisted in framing 
the constitution of Massachusetts. On its adoption he was elect- 
ed a member of tlie senate, and was its president from 1785 to 
1801. Being appointed justice of the court of common pleas for 
Essex in 1781, he held this ofticc till 1797, when his dt;cljning health 
induced his resignation. He was chosen lieutenant governor in 
1801, and died February 10, 1802, aged fifty years. While he 
possessed a sound judgment and an ardent, persevering spirit, his 
integrity and patriotism gained him the confidence of his fellow cit- 
izens. Such was liis superiority to the pride of wealth and of power, 
and such bis bencvolonce and humility, that when honored witn pub- 
lic applause and raised to eminence he would frequently spend the 
interval between the moniingand evening services of the sabbath in 
the house of God for the purpose of reading some pious book to 
those, whose distant habitations prevented them from returning 
home. He was careful to impart religious instruction to his family, 
and he led its daily devotions with humility, fervor, and eloquence. 
He appeared to be continu.dly governed !)y love to the Supreme 
Being, and by the desire of imitating his benevolence and doing 
good. His deep views of evangelical doctrine and duty, of human 
depravity and mediatorial mercy formed his heart to humility, con- 
descension, ana kindness, and led him contiiuuUly to depend on the 
grace of God through the atonement of his Son*. He projected the 
academy at Andover and was much concerned in establishing that as 
■well as the academy at ^'Lxetcr, which were founded by his father 
and uncle. To these institutions he was a distinguished benefactor. 
His exertions to effect their establishment bring him tho hi.-,hest 
honor, for he was the n itur.d heir of the founders. He bequeathed 
one thousand dollars, one sixth part of tbe interest of which he di- 
I'cctcd animally to be added to the principal, and the remainder to 



PHI. 479 

be expended in the purchase of pious books, to be annually distrib- 
uted among the inhabitants of Andover. He also bequeathed four 
thousand dollars, to be made an increasing fund, like the above, and 
the interest to be applied in part for the benefit of schools in Ando- 
ver, and in part tor the purchase of bibles, and other books to be 
distributed amonsj poor and pious Christians in other towns, and also 
among the inhabitants of places, where the means of religious 
knowledge are but sparingly enjoyed. Since the death of Mr. Pnil- 
lips ills- widow, Pnoebe Pniliips, and his son, the honorable John 
Phillips of Andover, have evinced the same attachment to the inter- 
ests of learnuig and I'eligion by unitiiig with Samuel Abbot, esquire, 
and three others of a most liberal and benevolent spirit in founuing 
the theological seminary in Andover, which was opened in Septem- 
ber 1 808. On their part they engaged to erect tv/o separate build- 
ings for the accoinmodalion of fifiy students, and for public rooms. 
By such acts of most Honorable munificence have the family, which 
bears the name of Phillips, proved to the world, that the blessing of 
wealth may fall into hanus, which shall employ it for the best of 
pu. poses. — Tajipan's fun. sermo7i ; Pearson'' n lecture, on death jires. 
WiLlard ; Conistitut. o/theolo^, seminary ; JMusiiU. miss. mag.\. 41 
—45. 

PHIPS (Sir William), governor of Massachusetts, was bom at 
a small settlement on the river Kennebeck February 2, 165 1. His 
father was a gunsmith in humble circumstances, and his mother had 
twenty six children, of wJiom twenty one were sons. After living 
in the wilderness till he was eighteen years of age he bound himselt 
as an apprentice to a ship carpenter for four years, at the expiration 
of which time he went to Boston, where he learned to read and write. 
Determining to seek his fortune upon the sea, after a variety of ad- 
ventures he discovered a Spanish wreck on the coast of Hispaniola, 
and fished up plate, and pearls, and jewels amounting in value to 
three hundred thousand pounds sterling, with which he sailed to 
England in 1687. Such was his honesty and so liberal was he to his 
seamen, that his own shaie ainounted onlv to sixteen thousand 
pounds. He was at this time made a knight by king James. Re- 
turning to Boston, he was in 1690 admitted a member of the north 
ehurch, being baptized and professing repentance of his sins. In 
the same year he commanded an expedition against Port Royal, 
■which place he captured. When the new charter of Massachusetts 
was obtained he was nominated by Dr. Mather as the governor. In 
this capacity he arrived at Boston May 14, 1692. He soon put a 
stop to prosecutions for witchcraft. In August he sailed with about 
four hundred and fifty men to Pemaquid, wacre he built a fort. In 
1694 in a dispute with the collector of the port sir William was so 
far carried away by the passion of the moment, as to have recourse 
to blows to settle the controversy. He was soon afterwards removed, 
and he sailed in November for Englandv Avhere he received as2ujr« 



480 PIE. 

ances of being rcslorcd ; but being seized hy a malignant fever he 
died February 18, 1695, aged forty four years. Lieutenant gover- 
nor Stoughton possessed the chief authority in MASsachu setts till 
the appointment of the earl of Bellamont. Sir William, though hi» 
origin was very humble, was not elated by the great change, which 
took place in his circumstances. He was a man of uncommon en- 
terprise and industry, of an excellent disposition, though he did not 
always retain the command of himself, and of perfect honesty and 
integrity. He exerted himself to promote the interests of New 
Er\^\ar\d.—Magnalia,u. 37—75 ; Mai's ^V. E. ii. 50, 57, 108, 173; 
Mams* JV. E. 166 ; Hutchinson, i. 396—416 ; ii. 75 — 84 ; Holma* 
annals, \. 478 ; ii. 3, 21, 27. 

PIERSON (Abraham), first minister of Southampton on Long 
Island, was a native of England, where he preached some time before 
he came to Boston. In 1640 a number of the inhabitants of Lynn 
formed the resolution to remove to Long Island, and invited Mr. 
Pierson to accompany them. Having first formed a church they 
went and settled Southampton. These planters constituted a gov- 
ernment by themselves. When it was found necessary to divide 
the church Mr. Pierson passed over to the main land, and became the 
first minister of Branford in Connecticut in 1644. He continued 
here till 1665, when he removed to New Jersey. He was a man of 
piety and learning. Having studied the Indian language he preach- 
ed to the natives on Long Island and in the several plantations of 
New Haven colony. — Magnalia-^ iii. 55 ; Gookin in collect, hist. soc. 
i. 207, 208; Trumbull's Connect, i. 289, 521; Winthroji, 204 J 
JVeal's .v. E. i 208 ; Holmes' annajs,i. 315. 

PIERSON (Abraham), first president of Yale college, was grad- 
uated at Harvard university in 1663. He was installed the minister 
of Killingworth, Connecticut, in 1694. On the establishment ot 
the college at Saybrook in 1701 he was chosen rector, and the stu- 
dents attended upon his instructions at Killingworth, although the 
commencements were held at Saybrook. He died May 5, 1707, 
to the unspeakable loss of the college and his people ; for he was an 
excellent scholar, a great divine, a faithful preacher, and Avise and 
judicious in all his conduct. Mr. Andrew of Milford was chosen 
rector pro tempore after his death, but a new president was not ap- 
pointed till 1719, when Mr. Cutler was placed at the head of the 
college. Mr. Pierson v/rote a system of natural Philosophy, which 
was studied in the college for many years. — Cla/i's hist. Yale college ; 
Holmes' life of Stiles, 384 ; Trumbull's Connect, i. 500, 501, 522. 

POCAHONTAS, daughter of Powhatan, emperor of the Indians 
of Virginia, was born about the ye^r 1595. Wlien captain Smith 
was taken prisoner in 1 607, and it was determined, that he sliould 
be put to death, his head was placed upon two large stones at the 
feet of Powhatan, that a number of Indians, who stood ready with 
lifted clubs, mi?rht beat out his brains. At this moment Pocaliontas 



FOR. 481 

i'lished to the spot and placed her own head upon his. l^rom regard 
to his daughter the savasje king spared his life. In 1609, when but 
fourteen years of age, she went to James Town in a dreary night 
and unfolded to captain Smith a plot, which the Indians had formed 
for the extermination of the English, and thus at the hazard of her 
life saved them from destruction. In 1612, after captain Smith left 
the colony, she was for a bribe of a copper kettle betrayed into the 
hands of captain Argal, and detained a prisoner, that better terms of 
peace might be made with her father. He offered five hundred 
bushels of corn for his daughter, but before this negotiation was 
completed, a different and more interesting one had commenced. A 
mutual attachment had sprung up between her and Mr. Thomas 
Rolfe, an Englishman of good character, and with the consent of 
Powhatan they were married. This event restored peace, and se- 
cured it for miany years. Pocahontas soon made a profession of 
Christianity and was baptized. In 1616 she accompanied her hus- 
band to England, where she was received with distinction at court. 
It is said, that king James jpxpressed great indignation, that one of 
his subjects should dare to marry into a royal family. As she was 
about to embark for Virginia in 1617, she died at Gravesend, aged 
about twenty two years. She is represented as a pious Christian. 
She left one son, Thomas Rolfe ; and from his daughter descended 
some respectable families in Virginia.— jr«7/j, 70, 98, 105, 125— 
129; Stithy 136, 146 ; Smithes Fir ffinia^ 4,6 — 49,113,122 ; Holmes^ 
annals, i. 158, 165, 181, 191 ; Marshall, r. 36, 52. 

PORTER (John), minister of Bridgewater, Massachusetts, was 
graduated at Harvai-d college in 1736, and ordained October 1740. 
He died in the hope of the Christian March 12, 1802, in the eighty 
seventh year of his age, and the sixty second of his ministry, having 
been enabled to preach till near the close of his life. He was a 
man of respectable talents, of great prudence, and of a blameless 
life. As a preacher he was highly and generally respected, for 
being sensible of the ruined condition of fallen man, and having ex- 
perienced the power of divine grace in his own heart, he dwelt with 
earnestness upon the great doctrines of the gospel. A crucified 
Redeemer was his frequent theme. Avoiding dry and barren spec- 
ulations he aimed to impart instruction, and to render men holy. 
His faithful labors were not in vain, for at different periods it pleased 
God by the influences of his Spirit to render them the means of 
converting many, who were chosen in Jesus Christ. He published 
a sermon at the ordination of Silas Brett, Freetown ; the absurdity 
and blasphemy of substituting the personal righteousness of men 
in the room of the surety righteousness of Christ in the article of 
justification before God, preached at Braintree, 1749 ; reply to Mr. 
Bryant's remarks on the above sermon, 1751. 

POWHATAN, emperor of the Indians in Virginia, at the time 
of the settlement of that colony in 1 607 was the most powerful of 

62 



48^ POW. 

the Indian kings. He was deeply versed in all the savage arts of 
rjovernment and policy, and was insidious, crafty, and cruel. After 
♦he marriage of his daughter to Mr. Rolfe he remained faithful to 
the English. He died in April 1618.— AaVA, 69—1 10, 120—132 ; 
Sdth, 154 ; Sjnii/i'ti Virginia^ \2 5 ; Marshall, i. 52^ 65; Holmes' 
annalsy'x. 194 ; Belknap's biog. ii. 6S. 

PO WNALL (Thomas), governor of Massachusetts, was appoint- 
ed to this office in 1757 in the place of Mr. Shirley removed. His 
measures were accommodated with great address to the state of the 
people and he had the pleasure of seeing the British arms triumph- 
ant in Canada ; hut as he did not give his confidence to Mr. Hutch- 
inson and his party, and as many slanders were propagated respect-- 
ing him among the people, he solicited to be recalled. In 1760, 
when sir Francis Bernard was removed to Massachusetts, he suc- 
ceeded him in New Jersey, as lieutenant governor. He was soon 
appointed governor of South Carolina, though from this station he 
was in about a year recalled at his own request. In 1768 he was 
chosen a member of parliament, and he strenuously opposed the 
measures of the administration against the colonies. He declared, 
that the people of America were universally, unitedly, and unalter- 
ably resolved never to submit to any internal tax, imposed by any leg- 
islature, in which they were not represented. He retired from parlia- 
ment in 1780, and died at Bath February 25, 1805, in the eighty 
fourth year ot his age, retaining his faculties in perfect vigor in his 
last days. His speeches in parliament were all published in Al- 
mon's parliamentary register, and he assisted Mr. Almon consider- 
ably in his American remembrancer in twenty volumes. He pub- 
lished principles of polity, 1752 ; administration of the colonics, 
1764, of which there were afterwards several editions with improve- 
ments, and part ii. 1774 ; the interest and duty of the state in East 
India affairs, 1773; memoir on drainage, 1775 ; topographical de- 
scription of North America, with Evans' map improved ; letter to 
Adam Smith on his inquiry into the wealth of nations, 1776 ; a me- 
•morial addressed to the sovereigns of Europe on the state of affairs 
between the old and new world, 1780 ; two memorials, not origi- 
nally intended for publication, 1782 ; a memorial addressed to 
the sovereigns of America ; on the study of antiquities, 1783 ; 
notices and descriptions of antiquities of the provincia Romana of 
Gaul ; intellectual physics ; an essay concerning the natui'e of be- 
ing ; a treatise on old age.— -A/on^/z/y anthology^ ii. 612 — 614; vi. 
'305; Monthly mag.; Mi?iot,'n. 18 — 20, 60 — 65,78; Medical re- 
/w.sitory, hexadc ii. vi. 78, 163 ; IVatkins. 

PRATT (Benjamin), chief justice of New York, was graduat- 
ed at Harvard college in 1737, and was afterwards a representative 
of Boston. Having been a counsellor of New York, he was in 1761 
appointed chief justice. He died January 5, 1763, aged fifty four 
years. He wrote some poetical and political essays.— -Co//ec//o«^» 
hist. 80C. iii. ."^Ol. 



PRA. 483 

PRATT (Ephraim), remarkable for longevity, was the grand- 
'aon of John Pratt, who settled at Plymouth in 1620, and was born 
<it East Sudbury in Massachusetts November 1, 1687. At the age 
of tvs^enty one he was married to Martha Wheelock, and beibie his 
<leath he could number among his descendants about fifteen hun- 
dred persons. In the year 1801 four of his sons were living, the 
eldest of Avhom was ninety years of age and the youngest eighty 
two. He died at Shutesbury, Massachusetts, at the close of May 
1804, aged one hundred and sixteen years. He was always remark- 
able for temperance. For the last sixty years Jie had tasted no wine, 
nor any distilled spirits, and he was never intoxicated in his life. 
His drink was water, small beer, and cider. Living mostly on bread 
and milk, for forty years bafore his death he did not eat any animal 
food. Such was his uniform health, that before 1801 he had never 
•consulted a physician, and it is not known, that he did afterwards.— 
JY. F. s/iectator, July 29, 1801 ; Windnor gazette^ August^ 1801, 

PREBLE (Edward), commodore in the American navy, was 
born in Falmouth, now Portland, Massachusetts, in August 1761. 
His father was a brigadier general. In his youth he became a mar- 
iner on board a merchant vessel. About the year 1779 he entered 
as a midshipman onboard avessel commanded by captain Williams, 
and in a short time was promoted to a lieutenancy on board tlie 
sloop of war commanded by captain Little, with whom he continu- 
ed till the peace in 1783. In this station he performed a brilliant 
action. He boarded and captured with a few men a vessel of more 
than equal force lying in the harbor of Penobscot, under a furious 
cannonade from the battery and an incessant fire of the troops. In 
1801 he had the command of the frigate Essex, in which he per- 
formed a voyage to the east Indies for the protection of our trade. 
In 1803 he was appointed commodore with a squadron of seven 
sail, and he soon made his passage to the Mediterranean with the de- 
sign of humbling the Tripolitan barbarians. He first took such 
measures with regard to the emperor of Morocco, as led to a 
peace. He next, after the loss of the frigate Philadelphia, procur- 
ed a number of gun boats of the king of Kaplesand proceeded to the 
attack of Tripoli. The Philadelphia was burned through the valor 
of lieutenant Decatur, but the place was not taken. The bravery 
exhibited had however its effect, for a peace was afterv/ards obtain- 
ed on honorable terms. Such was the good conduct of commodore 
Preble, that it extorted praise from the bashaw of Tripoli, and even 
the pope of Rome declared, that he had done more towards 
humbling the antichristian barbarians on that coast, than all the 
'Christian states of Europe had ever done. He died August 25, 
1807, in the forty sixth year of his age. — Literary magazine^ 
viii. 92; Polyanthos^'i. 145 — 149; American register^ ii. 89, 90 ' 
-Columbian centinel, August 29, 1807. 



484 PRI. 

PRIESTLEY (JosKPH, d.d.), an eminent philosopher, and volu- 
minous writer, was born at Ficldhead, in Yorkshire, England, March 
24, 1733. His father was a cloth dresser. At the age of nineteen 
he had acquired in the schools, to which he had been sent, and by 
the aid of private instruction a -^ood knowledge of Greek, Latin, and 
Hebrew, French, Italian, and German ; he had also begun to read 
Arabic, and learned Chaldee and Syriuc. Wit!i these attainments 
and others in mathematics, natural philosophy, and morals, he en- 
tered the academy of D iventry under Dr. Ashworth in 1752 with a 
view to the Christian ministry. Here he spent three years. The 
students were referred to books on both sides of every question, and 
required to abridge the most important works. The tutors, Mr. 
Ashworth and Mr. Clark, being of different opinions, and the stu- 
dents being divided, subjects of dispute were continually discussed. 
He had been educated in Calvinism, and in early life he suffered 
great distress from not finding satisfactory evidence of the renovation 
of his mind by the Spirit of God. He had great aversion to plays 
and romances. He attended a weekly meeting of young men for 
conversation and prayer. But before he went to the academy he be- 
came an Arminian, though he retained the doctrine of the trinity 
and of the atonement. At the academy he embraced Arianism. 
Perusing Hartley's observations on man, he was fixed in the belief 
of the doctrine of necessity. In 1755 he became assistant minister 
to the independent congregation of Needham Market in Suffolk up- 
on a salary of forty pounds a year. Falling under a suspicion of 
Arianism, he became pastor of a congregation at Nantwich in Chesh- 
ire in 175 8, where he remained three years, being not only minis- 
ter but schoolmaster. In 1761 he removed to Warrington as tutor 
in the belles lettres in the academy there. In 1767 he accepted the 
pastoral office at Leeds. Here by reading Lardner's letter on the 
Logos he became a Socinian. In 1773 he went to live with the 
marquis of Lansdowne as librarian, or literary companion, with a 
salary of two hundred and fifty pounds a year. During a connexion 
of seven years with his lordship he visited in his company France, 
Holland, and some parts of Germany. He then became minister of 
Birmingham. At length, when several of his friends celebrated the 
French revolution July 14, 179 1, a mob collected and f.ct fire to the 
dissenting meeting houses, and several dwelling houses of dissent- 
ers, and among others to that of Dr. Priestley. He lost his library, ap- 
paratus, and papers, and was forced to take refuge in the metropolis. 
He was chosen to succeed Dr. Price at Hackney, and was a lecturer 
in the dissenting college of that place. But the public aversion to 
him being strong, and liis sons emigrating to the United States, he 
followed them in April 1794. He settled at Northumberland, a 
town f f Pennsylvania about one hundred and thirty miles north west 
of Philadelphia. In this city for two or thrc" v;inters after his ar- 
rival he delivered lectures on the evidences of Ci'.'istianity. In his 



PRI. 483 

last sickness he expressed his coincidence with Simpson on the du- 
ration of future punishment. He died in calmness, and in the full 
vigor of his mind February 6, 1804, in the seventy first year of his 
age. He dictated some alterations in his manusciupts half an hour 
before his death. 

Dr. Priestley was aitiiable and affectionate in the intercourse of 
private and domestic life. Few men in modern times have wi'itten 
so much, or with such facility. His readiness with the pen he at- 
tributed in a great degree to the habit of writing down in early life 
the sermons, which he heard at public worship. To superior abilities 
he joined industry, activity, despatch, and method ; yet his applica- 
tion to study was not so great, as from the multitude of his works 
one would imagine, for he seldom spent more than six or eight hours 
in a day in any labor, which required much mental exertion. A 
habit of regularity extended itself to all his studies. He never read 
a book without determining in his own mind when he woixld finish 
it ; and at the beginning of every year he arranged the plan of his 
literary pursuits and scientific researches. He labored under a great 
defect, which however was not a very considerable impediment to his 
progress. He sometimes lost all ideas both of persons and things, 
with which he had been conversant. Once he had occasion to write 
a piece respecting the Jewish passover,in doing which he was oblig- 
ed to consult and compare several writers. Having finished it, he 
threw it aside. In about a fortnight he performed this same labor 
again, having forgotten that he had a few days before done it. Ap- 
prized of this defect, he used to write down what he did not wish to 
forget, and by a variety of mechanical expedients he secured and 
ai-ranged his thoughts, and derived the greatest assistance in writing 
large and complex works. By simple and mechanical methods he 
did thatjn a month, which men of equal ability could hardly execute 
in a year. He always did immediately what he had to perform. 
Though he rose early and despatched his more serious pursuits in 
the morning, yet he was as well qualified for mental exertion at one 
time of the day as at another. All seasons were equal to hint, early 
or late, before dinner or after. He could also write without incon- 
venience by the parlour fire with his wife and children about him, 
and occasionally talking to them. In his diary he recorded the 
progress of his studies, the occurrences of the day. Sec. Asa preach^ 
er Dr. Priestley was not distinguished. He had no powers of ora- 
tory. He was however laborious and attentive as a minister. He 
bestowed great pains upon the young by lectures and catechetical 
instructions. In his family he ever maintained the worship of God. 
As a schoolmaster and professor he was indefatigable. With respect 
to his religious sentiments his mind underwent a number of revolu- 
tions, but he died in the Socinian faith, which he had many years 
supported. He possesses a high reputation as a philosopher, partic- 
Tilarlv as a chemist. Commencing bis chemical career in 177" he 



486 PRI. 

did more for chcmisti^ in two years, than hud been done by any of 
his predecessors. He discovered the existence ol vital or dephlo- 
gisticated air, the oxyi^en gas of the French nomenclature, and 
other kinds of aeniorm fluids, and many methods of procuring them. 
He always adhered to the old doctrine of Stahl respecting phlogis- 
ton, though the whole scientific world had rejected it, and embraced 
the theory of Lavoisier. But his versatile mind could not be con- 
fined to one subject. He was not only a chemist, but an eminent 
metaphysician. He was a materialist and necessarian. He main- 
tained, that all volitions are the necessary result of previous circum- 
stances, the will being always governed by motives, and yet he op- 
posed the Calvinistic doctrine of predestination. The basis of his 
necessarian theory was Hartley's observations on man. In order to 
escape the difficulty, which he supposed would arise from ascribing 
the existence of sin to the will of God, he embraced the system of op- 
timism ; he considered all evil as resulting in the good of the whole 
^nd of each part ; he thought, that all intelligent beings would be con- 
ducted through various degrees of discipline to happiness. He wrote 
also upon politics, and it was in consequence of his advocating repub- 
lican sentiments as well as of his religious opinions,that his situation 
was rendered so unpleasant in England. He found it a convenient way 
of learning a science to undertake to teach it, or to make a book or 
treatise upon the particular subject of his studies. The chart <)f his- 
tory used in France was much improved by him, and he invented the 
chart of biography, which is very useful. Gf his numerous publi- 
cations the following are the principal ; a treatise on English gram- 
mar, 1761; on the doctrine of remission; history of electricity, 
1767; history of vision, light, and colors ; introduction to perspec- 
tive, 1770; harmony of tlie evangelists; catechisms; address to 
•masters of families on prayer; experiments on air, 4 vols ; obser- 
vations on education ; lectures on oratory and criticism ; institutes 
of natural and revealed religion ; a reply to the Scotch metaphysi- 
cians, Reid, Oswald, and Beattie ; disquisitions on matter and spirit, 
i77f ; history of the corruptions of Christianity ; letters to bishop 
Newcome on the duration of Christ's ministry ; correspondence 
with Dr. Horseley ; historyof early opinions concerning Jesus Christ, 
4 vols, 1786; lectures on history and general policy; answers to 
Paine and Volney ; several pieces on the doctrine of philosophical 
necessity in a controversy with Dr. Price ; discourses on the evi- 
dences of revealed religion, 3 vols. ; letters to a philosophical unbe- 
liever ; discourses on various subjects. He also wrote many de- 
fences of unitarianism and contributed largely to the theological 
repository, which was published many years ago in England. After 
his arrival in this country he pul)lished a comparison of the institu- 
tions of the Mosaic religion with those of the Hindoos; Jesus and 
Socrates compared ; several tracts against Dr. Linn, who wrolt; 



PRI. 487 

s^ainst tbe preceding pamphlet; notes on the scrlpturesv4 vols, j 
history of the Christian church, 6 vols. ; several pamphlets on phi- 
losophical sulijects, and in defence of the doctrine of phlogiston. 
Dr. Priestley's life was published in 1806 in two volumes. The' 
memoirs were written by himselt to the year 1787, and a short con- 
tinuation by his own hapd brings them to 1795. — Memoirs of Dr, 
Priestley ; Monthly magazine^ May., 1 804 ; Monthly anthology^ iv, 
359, 330, 389, 506. 

PRINCE (Thomas), governor of Plymouth colony, was a native 
of England, and arrived at Plymouth in 16-21. He was first chosen 
governor in 1634. Being appointed an assistant the next year, he 
continued in this office, except in the year 1638, when he was chosen 
governor, till the death of Mr. Bradford in 1657. At this time, as- 
a disposition prevailed in the colony to discountenance regular min- 
isters by giving the preference to the gifts ot the private brethren, 
it was thought, that his reelection to the office of governor would 
prevent the church from being overwhelmed with ignorance, and it 
proved highly beneficial to the interests of religion. He had been 
living at Nauset or Eastham, of which town he was one of the first 
planters in 1644j but after being chosen governor he removed to. 
Plymouth, where he died March 29, 1673, in the seventy third year 
of his age. He was succeeded by Mr. Winslow. He was a man 
of great wo'^th and piety, and eminently qualified for his station. 
Strict in his x*eligious opinions, he zealously opposed those, whom 
he believed to be heretics, particularly the quakers. As a magis- 
trate, such was his care to be impartial, that if any person, who had 
a cause in court, sent a present to his family during his absence, he 
immediately on being informed of it returned its value in money. 
Though his abilities had not been much improved by education, he 
was the friend of learning. In opposition to the clamors of the ig- 
norant he procured revenues for the support of grammar schools in 
the colony. — Magnalia^ ii. 6, 7; Morton., supfilem. 206 y Collect, 
hist. soc. viii. 166 ; JVeal's JV. E. i. 392. 

PRINCE (Thomas), minister in Boston, was a descendant of 
the preceding and was graduated at Harvard college in 1707. Hav- 
ing determined to visit Europe he sailed for England April 1, 1709. 
For some years he preached at Combs in Suffolk, where he was 
earnestly invited to continue, but his attachment to his native coun- 
try was too strong to be resisted. He arrived at Boston July 20, 
1717, and was orduined pastor of the old south church, as colleague 
with the reverend Dr. Sewall, his classmate, October 1, 1718. In 
this station his fine genius, improved Ijy diligent study, polished by 
an extensive acquaintance with mankind, and employed to the no- 
blest purposes of life, rendered him an ornament to bis profession, 
and a rich blessing to the church. He died October 22, 1758, in 
the seventy second year of his age. In his last sickness he ex-. 
pressed a deep sense of his sinfulness, and a desire of better evi- 



488 PRl. 

dence, that he was tit to dwell in heaven. Wlien his speech failed 
him, as he was asked whether he was submissive to the divine will, 
and could commit his soul to tne care of Jesus, he lifted up his 
hand to express his resignation, and his confidence in the Savior. 
From his youth he had been influenced by the fear of God. He 
was an eminent preacher, for his sermon* were rich in thought, 
perspicuous and devotional, and he inculcated the doctrines and du- 
ties of religion, as one, who felt their importance. The original 
languages, in which the scriptures were written, were familiar to 
him. In the opinion of Dr. Chaunry no one in New England 
had more learning, except Dr. Cotton Mather. It was extensive 
like his genius. Firmly attached to the faith once delivered to the 
saints, he was zealous for the honor of his divine Master. He was 
anxious to preserve suitable discipline in the church, that those, who 
had been guilty of open sins, might be reclaimed, and that the name 
of Christian might be preserved from reproach. He mourned over 
the degeneracy of the New England churches both in doctrine and 
practice. When Mr. Whitefield visited this country in 1740, Mr. 
Prince received him with open, arms, and was always his friend ; he 
always respected that Christian benevolence, which animated the 
eloquent itinerant ; and he was grateful for those labors, which 
were so eminently useful to his people and the town of Boston. In 
private life he was amiable and exemplary. It was his constant en- 
deavor to imitate the perfect example of his Master and Lord. He 
was ready to forgive injuries, and to return good for evil. By the 
grace of God he was enabled to preserve a calmness of mind under 
very trying events. Wnen heavy afflictions were laid upon him he 
displayed exemplary submission to the will of God. Though he 
was a learned man, and was uncommonly diligent in study, yet he 
relished the comtorts and faithfully discharged the duties of domes- 
tic life. It was no small part of his labor to impress on his chil- 
dren a sense of religion, and he had the happiness of seeing all his 
offspring walking in the truth. His son, Thomas Prince, junior, 
who edited the Christian History in 1743 and 1744, died in Octo- 
ber 1748, and the family was in a few years extinct. 

Mr. Prince began in 1703, while at college, and continued more 
than fifty years a collection of public and private papers relating to 
the civil and religious history of Now England. His inestimable 
collection of manuscripfs he left to the care of the old south church, 
and they were deposited in an apartment of the meeting house with 
a valuable library of books, which he had estihlished under the 
name of the New England lil)rary. But the manuscripts were 
principally destroyed by the British during the late war, and thus 
many important facts relating to the history of this country are ir- 
recoverably lost. The books yet remain ; but they are in a state, 
which does no honor to those, who have been entrusted with the 
care of them. 



PRI. 489 

He published an account of the first appearance of the aurora 
borealis ; a sermon at his own ordination, 1718; an account of the 
English ministers on Martha's Vineyard, annexed to Mayhew's In- 
dian converts, 1727 ; election sermon, 1730; on a day of prayer for 
the choice of a minister, 1732 ; on the death of Cotton Mather, and 
Samuel Prince, his father, 1728 ; Samuel Sevvall, 1730 ; Daniel Oli- 
ver, and Daniel Oliver, junior, 1732 ; Mary Belcher, 1736; Nathan- 
iel Williams, 1738; Thomas Gushing, 1746; Martha Stoddard, 
1748 ; the prince of Wales, 1751 ; Hannah Fayerweather, 1755 ; 
Edward Bromfield, and Josiah Willard, 1756 ; a chronological his- 
tory of New England in the form ol annals, 12mo, 1736, and three 
numbers of the second volume in 1755. In this work it was his inten- 
tion to give a summary account of transactions and occurrences re- 
lating to this country from the discovery of Gosnold in 1602 to the 
arrival of governor Belcher in 1730, but he brought the histoiy 
down only to 1633. He spent much time upon the introductory 
epitome, which begins at the creation, Had he confined himself to 
New England, and finished his work, it would have been of incalcula- 
ble value. He published also an account of the revival of religion 
in Boston in the Christian history, 1744 ; a sermon on the battle near 
Culloden, and the destruction of the marquis D'Anville's squad- 
ron ; a thanksgiving sermon on the«taking of Louisbourg, 1746 ; 
a thanksgiving sermon for reviving rains after the distressing 
drought, 1749 ; the New England psalm book revised and improv- 
ed, 1758. After his death Dr. John Erskine of Edinburgh pub- 
lished from his manuscripts six sermons, the last of which was oc- 
casioned by the death of his son, Thomas Prince, junior. — Preface 
to his six sermons ; Seivall's fun. sermon ; Boston gazette j October 
30, 1758 ; Holmes' annals/ii. 232 ; Collect, hist. *oc. ii. 14 ; vii. 20, 
280 ; X. 164 ; Christian history for 1744, 374 — 415. 

PRINCE (Nathan), a distinguished scholar, was the brother of 
the preceding, and was graduated at Harvard college in 171 8. He 
was chosen tutor in 1723, and fellow in 1737 ; but he was removed 
in 1742. He in consequence published an account of the constitu- 
tion and government of Harvard college trom its first foundation in 
1635 to the year 1742, in which he endeavored to prove that the 
general court had the sole power of dismissing members ef the 
corporation, and are the only visitors of the college. In this work 
he also complains of the management of the treasury, and repro- 
bates the injustice, which he believed was done in arranging the 
students in the classes and their names in the catalogue accordihg 
to the dignity or worth of their connexions. He had before his re- 
moval refused to assist in this thing. The alphabetical arrange- 
ment did not take place till 1773. Mr. Prince once had a deep- 
rooted aversion to the episcopal church ; but after his dismission he 
took orders. He died at Ratlan in the West Indies, where he was 
a minister, July 2 5, 1748. He was a greater mathematician and 

63 



¥J0 PUL. 

philosopher, and a much better classical scholar and logician, than 
his brother, and is ranked among the great men of this country. — 
Colled, hist. soc. x. 165. 

PULASKI (Count), brigadier general in the army of the U- 
iiited States, was a Polandcr of high birth, who with a few men in 
1771 carried ofl' king Stanislaus from the middle of his capital, 
though surrounded by a numerous body of guards and a Russian 
army. The king soon escaped and declared Pulaski an outlaw. 
After his arrival in this country, he offered his services to congress, 
and was honored with the rank of brigadier general. He discovered 
the greatest intrepidity in an engagement with a party of the Brit- 
ish near Charleston in May 1779. In the assault upon Savannah 
October ninth by general Lincoln and count D'Estaing, Pulaski was 
wounded at the head of two hundred horsemen, as he was galloping in- 
to the town with the intention of charging in the rear. He died on 
the eleventh, and congress resolved, that a monument should be 
erected to his nicmoiy. — Gordon^ iii. 256, 330, 532 ; Holmes' an- 
nals^ ii. 417 ; Collect, hist. soc. ii. 180. 

PUTNAM (Israel), a major general in the army of the United 
States, was born at Salem, Massachusetts, January 7, 1718. His 
mind was vigorous, but it was never cultivated by education. When 
he for the first time went to Boston, he was insulted for his rusticity 
by a boy of twice his size. After bearing his sarcasms until his 
good nature was exhausted, he attacked and vanquished the unman- 
nerly fellow to the great diversion of a crowd of spectators. In 
running, leaping, and wrestling he almost always bore away the 
prize. In 1739 he removed to Pomfret, in Connecticut, where he 
cultivated a considerable tract of land. He had however to encoun- 
ter many difficulties, and annong his troubles the depredations of 
wolves upon his sheepfold Avas not the least. In one night seventy 
fine sheep and goats were killed. A she AVolf, who with her annual 
whelps had for several years infested the vicinity, being considered 
as the principal cause of the havoc, Mr. Putnam entered into a com- 
bination with a number of his neighbors to hunt alternately, till they 
should destroy her. At length the hounds drove her into her den, 
and a number of persons soon collected with guns, straw, fire, and 
sulphur to attack the common enemy. But the dogs were afraid 
to approach her, and the fumes of brimstone could not force her 
from the cavern. It was now ten o'clock at night. Mr. Putnam 
proposed to his black servant to descend into the cave and shoot the 
wolf ; but as the negro declined, he resolved to do it himself. 
Having divested himself of his coat and waistcoat, and having 
a long rope fastened round his legs, by which he might be pull- 
ed back at a concerted signal, he entered the cavern head fore- 
most with a blazing torch, made of strips of birch bark, in his 
hand. He descended fifteen feet, passed along horizontally ten 
feet, and then began the gradual ascent, which is sixteen feet in 



PUT. 49X 

length. He slowly proceeded on his hands and knees in an abode, 
which was silent as the house of death. Cautiously glancing 
forwards, he discovered the glaring eyeballs of the wolf, who started 
at the sight of his torch, gnashed her teeth, and gave a sullen growl. 
He immediately kicked the rope, and was drawn out with a friendly 
celerity and violence, which not a little bruised him. Loading his 
gun with nine buck shot, and carrying it in one hand, while he held 
the torch with the other, he descended a second time. As he ap- 
proached the wolf, she howled, rolled her eyes, snapped her teeth, 
dropped her head between her legs, and was evidently on the point 
of springing at him. At this moment he fired at her head, and 
soon found himself drawn out of the cave. Having refreshed him- 
self he again descended, and seizing the wolf by her ears kicked the 
rope, and his companions above with no small exultation dragged 
them both out together. During the French war he was appointed 
to command a company of the first troops, which were raised in 
Connecticut in 1755, He rendered much service to the army in 
the neighborhood of Crown point. In 1756, while near Ticonde- 
roga, he was repeatedly in the most imminent danger. He escaped 
in an adventure of one night with twelve bullet holes in his blanket. 
In August he was sent out with several hundred men to watch the 
motions of the enemy. Being ambuscaded by a party of equal 
numbers, a general but irregular action took place. Putnam had 
discharged his fusee several times, but at length it missed fire, while 
its muzzle was presented to the breast of a savage. The warrior 
with his lifted hatchet and a tremendous war whoop compelled him 
to surrender, and then bound him to a tree. In the course of the 
action the parties changed their position, so as to bring this tree di- 
rectly between them. The balls flew by him incessantly ; many 
struck the tree, and some passed through his clothes. The enemy 
now gained possession of the ground, but being afterwards driven 
from the field they carried their prisoner with them. At night he 
was stripped, and a fire was kindled to roast him alive ; but a French 
officer saved him. The next day he arrived at Ticonderoga, and 
thence he was carried to Montreal. About the year 1759 he was 
exchanged through the ingenuity of his fellow prisoner, colonel 
Schuyler. When peace took place he returned to his farm. He 
was ploughing in his field in 1775, when he heard the news of the 
battle of Lexington. He immediately unyoked his team, left his 
j^lough on the spot, and without changing his clothes set off for 
Cambridge. He soon went back to Coimecticut, levied a regiment, 
and repaired again to the camp. In a little time he was promoted 
to the rank of major general. In the battle of Bunker's hill he ex- 
hibited his usual intrepidity. He directed the men to reserve thefr 
fire, till the enemy was very near, reminded them of their skill, and 
told them to take good aim. They did so, and the execution was 
terrible. After the retreat, he made a stand at Wintef hill and 



492 QUI. 

drove back the enemy under cover of their ships. "When the army- 
was orfjanized by general Washington at Cambridge, Putnam was 
appointed to command the reserve. In August 1776 he was sta- 
tioned at Brooklyn, on Long Island. After the defeat of our army 
on the twenty seventh of that month, he went to New York and was 
very serviceable in the city and neighboihood. In October or No- 
vember he was sent to Philadelphia to fortify that city. In January 
1777 he WdS directed to take post at Princeton, where he continued 
until spring. At this place a sick prisoner, a captain, requested 
that a friend in the British army at Brunswick might be sent for to 
assist him in making his will. Putnam was perplexed. He had 
but fifty men under his command, and he did not wish to have his 
weakness known ; yet he was unwilling to deny the request. He 
however sent a flag of truce, and directed the officer to be brought 
in the night. In the evening lights were placed in all the college 
windows, and in every apartment of the vacant houses throughout 
the town. The officer on his return reported that general Putnam's 
army could not consist of less, than four or five thousand men. In. 
the spring he was appointed to the command of a separate army in 
the highlands of New York. One Palmer, a lieutenant in the tory 
new levies, was detected in the camp ; governor Tryon reclaimed 
him as a British officer, threatening vengeance if he was not restored. 
General Putnam wrote the following pithy reply ; " Sir, Nathan 
palmer, a lieutenant in your king's service, was taken in my camp 
as a spy ; he was tried as a spy ; he was condemned as a spy ; 
and he shall be hanged as a spy. P. S. Afternoon. He is hang- 
ed." After the loss of fort Montgomery, the commander in 
chief determined to build another fortification, and he directed 
Putnam to fix upon a spot. To him belongs the praise of having 
chosen West Point. The campaign of 1779, which was principally 
spent in strengthening the works at this place, finished the military 
career of Putnam. A paralytic affection impaired the activity of his 
body, and he passed the remainder of his days in retirement, retain- 
ing his relish for enjoyment, his love of pleasantry, his strength of 
jTiemory, and all the faculties of his mind. He died at Brookline, 
Connecticut, May 29, }790, aged seventy two ye.ixrs.— HuTn/ihrey's 
life oj" Putnam ; ^mericannefios ; Polyatithos,!; Gazette U. S.June 
12, 1790 ; Hardie, appendix ; Gordon., ii. 2. 

QUINC Y (Edmund), a judge of the superior court of Massachu- 
setts, was born at Brair.tree October 24, 1681. His father, lieuten- 
ant colonel Edmund Quincy, died in 1698, His mother was a 
daughter of major general Gookin. He was graduated at Harvard 
college in 1699, and afterwards su"itained several important offices, 
the duties of which he discharged with ability and faithfulness. He 
was a judge of the superior court from 1718 till a short time before 
his death. Being sent as an agent to London for the purpose of set- 
tling the boundary line between Massachusetts and Now Hampshire, 



QUI. 493 

he died in that city of the small pox February 23, 1738, in the fifty 
seventh year of his age. His uncommon powers of reasoning and 
of eloquence were joined to the Christian virtues. As a member 
of the council he for twenty years had great influence in giving a di- 
rection to the proceedings of government. In his family it gave 
him pleasure to worship the God of all the families of the earth, and 
to impart to his children religious instruction.— ./Tawcoc^'syttw. ser- 
mon ; Hutchinson^ ii. 387. 

QUINCY (Josiah), a distinguished patriot, was graduated at 
Harvard college in 1763, and afterwards became an eminent coun- 
sellor at law in Boston. He distinguished himself in 1770 by his 
defence with Mr. John Adams of captain Preston, who commanded 
the British troops at the Boston massacre, and who was brought to 
trial in October. He opposed with firmness and zeal the arbitrary 
proceedings and claims of the British parliament. In September 
1774 he sailed for England at the request of several of his fellow 
patriots to promote the interests of America. Some interesting 
extracts from his journal are preserved by Gordon. He set sail on 
his return in the following year, but he died on board the vessel on 
the very day of its arrival at cape Ann April 24, 1775, aged 
thirty one years. He fell a victim to his zeal for his country's 
good. Learned and eloquent as a lawyer, he was also an able polit- 
ical writer. He published observations on the act of parliament, 
commonly called the Boston port bill, with thoughts on civil society 
and standing armies, 1774. This pamphlet evinces a bold and de- 
cided spirit. The author was apprehensive that a terrible struggle was 
about to take place, and he had made up his mind for it. He closes 
his tract with saying, " America has her Bruti and Cassii, her 
Hambdens and Sidneys, patriots and heroes, who will form a band 
of brothers ; men, who will have memories and feelings, courage 
and swords ; courage, that shall inflame their ardent bosoms till their 
hands cleave to their swords, and their sv/ords to their enemies' 
hearts." — Holmes' annals., ii. 346 ; Gordon., i. 291, 393, 433 — 449, 
491 J Marshall, ii, 146, 155 ; Jda7)is' JV. E. 261 ; Miller^ ii. 381. 

QUINCY (Edmund), author of a treatise upon hemp husbandry, 
which was published in 4to, 1765, was a citizen of Boston and was 
graduated at Harvard college in 1722. He died July 4, 1788, aged 
eighty five years. — Collect, hist. soc. iii. 301. 

RANDOLPH (Peyton), first president of congress, was a native 
of Virginia, of which colony he was attorney general as early as 
1756. In this year he formed acoriipany of a hundred gentlemen, 
who engaged as volunteers against the Indians. He was afterwards 
speaker of the house of burgesses. Being appointed one of the 
deputies to the first congress in 1774, he was on the fifth of Septem- 
ber elected its president. He was also chosen president ol the sec- 
ond congress May 10, 1775, but on the twenty fourth, as he was 
obliged to return to Virginia, Mr. Hancock v/as placed in the chair. 



494 llAS. 

Mr. Randolpli afterwards took his scat agaiu in congress. He died 
at Philadelphia of an apoplectic stroke October 22, 1775, aged fifty 
two years.— Vl/crs/za//, ii. 29, 168; Journals of congress ; Holmes' 
anr.alsy ii. 346. ^ 

RASLES, or RALLE (Sehastien), a missionary among the In- 
dians of North America, was a French Jesuit, and arrived at Que- 
bec in October 1689. After travelling in the interior several 
years he went to Norridgcwot:^ on the Kennebec river, where he 
tarried twenty six years till his death. Being considered as the in- 
veterate enemy of the English, and as stimulating the Indians to 
their frequent depredations, captains Harman and Moulton were 
sent out from New Hampshire in 1724 against the vilkige, in wh.ich 
he lived. They surprised it on the twenty third of August, and 
killed Rasles and about eighty Indians. The Jesuit was found in a 
wigwam, and he defended himself with intrepid courage ; but his 
character was stained by an act of barbarous cruelty. He had with 
him an English boy of fourteen years, who had been a prisoner about 
six months, and resolving not to fall alone he shot him through the 
thigh, and stabbed him through the body. He was himself in the 
sixty seventh year of his age. By his condescending deportment 
and address he acquired an astonishing influence over the Indians. 
Such was his faithfulness to the political interests of France, that he 
even made the offices of devotion serve as an incentive to savage fe- 
rocity ; for he kept a flag, on which was depicted a cross surrounded 
with bows and arrows, and he ridsed it at the door of his little church, 
when he gave absolution previously to the commencement of any 
warlike enterprise. He was a man of good sense and learning, and 
■was particularly skilful in Latin, which he wrote with great purity. 
He spoke the Abankis language, which was the language of the 
Norridgewogs, and was acquainted with the Huron, Outawis, and 
Illinois. In his preaching he v.'as vehement and pathetic. For the 
last nineteen years his health was fecl)ie, as his limbs had been 
broken by a fall. An ineflectual attempt was made to seize him in 
1722, but some of his papers were secured, and among them a dic- 
tionary of the Abankis language, which is now in the library of 
Harvard college. It is a quarto volume of five hundred pages. 
Two of his letters of considerable length are preserved in the let- 
tres cuifiantcs, and they give some account of the Indian languages 
and manners. — flutchinson, ii. 241, 262 — 264, 295, 305, 309^-313 ; 
Bdk7iafi\s jV. H. ii. 48 — 50, 57, 60 ; Holmes' annals, ii. 112, 113 ; 
Charlevoix^ nouv. France, ii. 375 — 385 ; Lettrcs t-dif antes ct curi- 
<:w«e«, xvii. 285 — 343; xxiii. 108 — 308; Douglass, i. 199. 

RAWSON (Giundall). uiinister of Mendqn, Massachusetts, 
was graduated at Harvard college in 1678, and v.as ordained succes- 
sor of Mr. Emerson about the year 1680, when there were but about 
twenty families in the town. Sv.ch was his benevolence, that he 
studied the Indi.^n language, tint he might be able to preach the 



RED. 495 

gospel of salvation to the Indians in Mendon. He usually preached 
to them in their own tongue every Sunday evening. His discour- 
agements were great, for he had but little success; but he persever- 
ed in his humane exertions. He died February 6, 1715 in the fifty 
seventh year of his age and the thirty fifth of his ministry, being 
highly respected for his talents, piety, and benevolence. He was suc- 
ceeded by Mr. Dorr. When on his' sick bed, as he was reminded 
of his faithfulness in the service of God, he replied, " O, the great 
imperfection I have been guilty of ? How little have I done for 
God ?" He continued, " if it were not for the imperfection of the 
saints, there would be no need of a Savior. In the Lord Jehovah I 
have righteousness and strength." The last words, which he utter- 
ed, were, " come. Lord Jesus, come quickly." He published the 
election sermon, 1709. — C. Mather's death of good men; Whitney's 
hist. Worcester^ 57. 

REDMAN (John, m.d.), first president of the college of physi- 
cians of Philadelphia, was born in that city February 27, 1722. Af- 
ter finishing his preparatory education in the reverend Mr. Ten- 
nent's academy, he entered upon the study of physic with Dr. John 
Kearsely, then one of the most respectable physicians of Philadel- 
phia. When he commenced the practice of his profession he went 
to Bermuda, where he continued for several years. Thence he 
proceeded to Europe for the purpose of perfecting his acquaintance 
with medicine. He lived one year in Edinburgh ; he attended lec- 
tures, dissections, and the hospitals in Paris ; he was graduated at 
Leyden in July 1748 ; and after passing some time at Gray's hospi- 
tal he returned to America, and settled in his native city, where he 
soon gained great and deserved celebrity. When he was about forty 
years of age he was afflicted with an abscess in his liver, the contents 
of which were expectorated, and he was frequently confined by 
acute diseases ; yet he lived to a great age. In the evening of his 
life he withdrew from the labors of his profession ; but it was only 
to engage in business of another kind. In the year 1784 he was 
elected an elder of the second presbyterian church, and the benevo- 
lent duties of this office employed him and gave him delight. The 
death of his younger daughter in 1806 was soon succeeded by the 
death of his wife, with whom he had lived with uninterrupted har- 
mony near sixty years. He himself died of an apoplexy March 19, 
1808, in the eighty seventh year of his age. 

Dr. Redman was sonievvhat below the middle stature ; his com- 
plexion was dark and his eyes uncommonly animated. In the for- 
mer part of his life he possessed an irritable temper, but his anger 
was transient, and he Avas known to make acknowledgments to his 
pupils and servants for a hasty expression. As a physician his 
principles were derived from the writings of Boerhaave, buthis prac- 
tice was formed by the rules of Sydenham. He considered a greater 
fSrce of medicine necessary to cure modern American, than modern 



496 RED. 

British diseases, and hence he was a decided friend to depletion in 
all the violent diseases of our country. He bled freely in the yellow 
fever of 1762, and threw the weight of his venerable name into the 
scale of the same remedy in the year 1793. In the diseases of old 
age he considered small and frequent bleedings as the first of rem- 
edies. He entertained a high opinion of mercury in all chronic dis- 
eases, and he gave it in the natural small pox with the view of touch- 
ing the salivary glands about the turn of the pock. He introduced 
the use of turbith mineral as an emetic in the gangrenous sore 
throat of 1764. Towards the close of his life he read the latter 
medical writers and embraced with avidity some of the modern 
opinions and modes of practice. In a sick room his talents were 
peculiar. He suspended pain by his soothing manner, or chased it 
away by his conversation, which was occasionally facetious and full 
of anecdotes, or serious and instructing. He was remarkably at- 
tached to all the members of his family. At the funeral of his 
brother, Joseph Redman, in 1779, after the company were assembled 
he rose from his seat, and grasping the lifeless hand of his brother, 
he turned round to his children, and other relations in the room, and 
addressed them in the following words ; " I declare in the presence 
of God and of this company, that in the whole course of our lives 
no angry word nor look has ever passed between this dear brother 
and me." He then kneeled down by the side of his coffin, and in 
the most fervent manner implored the protection and favor of God 
to his widow and children. He was an eminent Christian. While 
he was not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, he thought humbly of 
himself, and lamented his slender attainments in religion. His 
piety was accompanied by benevolence and charity. He gave lib- 
erally to the poor. Such was the cheerfulness of his temper, that 
upon serious subjects he was never gloomy. He spoke often of 
death, and of the scenes, which await the soul after its separation 
from the body, with perfect composure. He published an inaugu- 
ral dissertation on abortion, 1748, and a defence of inoculation, 1759. 
— . Medical and /ihiloso/ih. register ; Evang. intelligencer^ Afiril, 1 808 ; 
Philadel. med. museum, v. 49—56 ; Brown's jimerican register, iii. 
549 — 554. 

REDWOOD (Abraham), a friend of learning, died at Newport^ 
Rhode Island, in March 1788, He was the founder of the Red- 
wood library, to which he gave five hundred pounds sterling. 

REED (Joseph), president of the state of Pennsylvania, was 
graduated at the college of New Jersey in 1757. He wasappointed 
in 1774 one of the committee of correspondence of Philadelphin» 
and was afterwards president of the convention. Engaging with 
zeal in the cause of his country at the commencement of the war, 
he repaired to the camp at Cambridge in July 1775 and was ap- 
pointed an aid de camp of Washington. In the following year he 
was made adjutant general ; but under the disasters of 1776 his. 



REE. 497 

Srmness failed him, and he was on the point of relinquishing the 
cause, which he had engaged to support. His private letters werei 
full of gloom, and he even censured the commander in chief for 
want of decision. The affair of Trenton however and subsequent 
Successes revived his fortitude and courage. His firmness after- 
wards on trying occasions and his incorruptible integrity threw a 
veil over his momentary weakness. In May 1778, when he was a 
ihember of congress, the three commissioners from England arrived 
in America. Governor Johnstone, one of them, addressed private 
letters to Francis Dana, Robert Morris, and Mr. Reed to secure 
their influence towards the restoration of harmony, giving to the 
two latter intimations of honors and emoluments. But he address- 
ed himself to men, who were firm in their attachment to America. 
Mr. Reed had a yet severer trial, for as his former despondence was 
known, direct propositions were made to him in June by a lady, 
Supposed to be Mrs. Ferguson, wife of Dr. Adam Ferguson, sec- 
retary of the commissioners, who assured him as from governor 
Johnstone, that ten thousand pounds sterling, and the best office in 
the gift of the crown in America should be at his disposal, if he 
could effect a reunion of the two countries. He replied, that he was 
not worth purchasing ; but such as he was, the king of Great Brit- 
ain was not rich enough to do it. In October 1778 he was chosen 
president of Pennsylvania, and he continued in this office till Oc- 
tober 1781. He died March 5, 1785, in the forty third year of his 
age. He published remarks on governdr Johnstone's speech in par- 
liament, with authentic papers relative to his proposition, &c. 1779 ; 
remarks on a publication in the independent gazetteer, with a short 
address to the people of Pennsylvania, 1783. — Marshall., iii. 539, 
544 ; Warren^ i. 393 ; ii. 78 — 81 ; Stedman, ii. 51 ; Chastellux's 
travels, i. 188 — 194 ; Gordon, ii. 278 ; iii. 172 ; Cadivallader-s 
letters to Reed. 

REESE (Thomas, d. d.), minister in South Carolina, was grad- 
uated at the college of New Jersey in 1768, and was for several years 
settled over the presbyterian church at Salem in South Carolina. 
He died at Charleston in August 1796. He published an essay 
on the influence of religion in civil society, 1788 ; death of Christ- 
ians is gain, in American preacher, i ; and the character of Haman, 
in American preacher, ii. 

RHODE ISLAND, one of the United States of America, was 
first settled from Massachusetts, and its settlement was owing to 
religious persecution. Roger Williams in 1636 laid the foundation 
of the town of Providence. In 1638 John Clarke and others pur- 
chased of the Indian sachems Aquetneck, or the principal island, 
which v/as called Rhode Island, and incorporated themselves into 
A body politic, making choice of William Coddington as their chief 
magistrate. Ih 1644 Roger Williams, who had been sent to Eng- 
fahd as agent obtained a patent for the Providence plantations. They 
(54 



4Q8 RIT. 

were however incorporated with Rhode Island under one govern- 
ment in 1647, in which year the first general assembly was held. 
The executive power was placed in the hands of a president and 
four assistants. A charter was given by king Charles II in 1663, 
which vested the legislative power in an assembly, of which the 
governor and assistants were members. Nothing but allegiance 
was reserved to the king. Since this period the form of government 
has suffered very little alteration. An act was passed in 1663, de- 
claring that all men of competent estates and good conduct, who 
professed Christianity, with the exception of Roman catholics, should 
be admitted freemen. In 1665 the government passed an order to 
outlaw quakers and seize their estates, because they would not bear 
arms ; but the people would not suffer it to be carried into effect. 
The toleration, which was practised in this colony from the begin- 
ning, does much honor to its founders. A quo warranto was issued 
against the colony in 1685. At the close of the following year An- 
dros assumed the government ; but after his imprisonment in 1689 
the charter was resumed. During the late war with Great Britain 
the inhabitants of Rhode Island manifested a becoming spirit. This 
state was admitted into the vmion in 1789. — Callender's hist, dis- 
course ; Holmes' annals.^ i. 301, 342, 386, 395 ; ii. 482 ; Gordon^ i. 
37, 38 ; Morse's geog. ; Jdams' JV. E. 61 — 67, 91, 112 ; Collect, 
hist. soc. V. 2 16—220 ; Hutchinson. 

RITTENHOUSE (David, ll. d. f. b. s.), an eminent philoso- 
pher, was descended from ancestors, who emigrated from Holland, 
and was born in Germantown, Pennsylvania, April 8, 1732. The early 
part of his life was spent in agricultural employments ; and his 
plough, tlje fences, and even the stones of the field were marked|witli 
figures, which denoted a talent for mathematical studies. A delicate 
constitution rendering him unfit for the;labors of husbandry, he de- 
voted himself to learning the trade of a clock and mathematical 
instrument maker. In these arts he was his own instructer. Dur- 
ing his residence with his father in the country he made himself 
master of Newton's principia, which he read in the English transla- 
tion of Mr. Mott. Here also he became acquainted with fluxions, 
of which sublime invention he believed himself for some time the first 
author. He did not know for some years afterwards, that a con-> 
test had been carried on between Newton and Leibnitz for the honor 
of that great discovery. At the age of twenty three, without educa- 
tion and withoiit advantages, he became the rival of the two greatest 
mathematicians of Europe. In this retired situation, while working 
at his trade, he planned and executed an orrery, by which he repre- 
sented the revolutions of the heavenly bodies more completely, than 
ever before had been done. This masterpiece of mechanism was 
purchased by the college of New Jersey. A second was made by 
him, after the same model, for the use of the college of Philadelphia, 
where it has commanded for many years the admiration of the inge- 



I 



RIT. 499 

iHous and the learned. In 1770 he was induced by the urgent re- 
quest of some friends, who knew his merit, to exchange liis beloved 
retirement for a residence in Philadelphia. In this city he continu- 
ed his employment for several years; and his clocks had a high rep- 
utation, and his mathematical instruments were thought superior to 
those imported from Europe. His first communication to the phir 
Josophical society of Philadelphia, of which he was elected a mem- 
(ber, was a calculation of the transit of Venus, as it was to happen 
June 3, 1769. He was one of those appointed to observe it in the 
township of Norriton. This phenomenon had never been seen but 
twice before by any inhabitant of our earth, and would never be seen 
again by any person then living. The day arrived, and there was 
no cloud in the horizon ; the observers, in silence and trembling 
anxiety, waited for the predicted moment of observation ; it came, 
and in the instant of contact between the planet and sun, an emotion 
of joy so powerful was excited in the breast of Mr. Rittenhouse, that 
he fainted. On the ninth of November following he observed the 
transit of Mercury. An account of these observations was published 
in the transactions of the society. In 1775 he was appointed one of 
the commissioners for settling a territorial dispute between Penn- 
sylvania and Virginia, and to his talents, moderation, and firmness 
was ascribed in a great degree its satisfactory adjustment in 1785. 
He assisted in determining the western limits of Pennsylvania in 
1784, and the northern line of the same state in 1786. He was also 
called upon to assist in fixing the boundary line between Massachu- 
setts and New York in 1787. In his excursions through the wil- 
derness he carried with him his habits of inquiry and observation. 
Nothing in our mountains, soils, rivers, and springs escaped his; no- 
tice. But the only records of what he collected are private letters, 
and the memories of his friends. In 1 79 1 , he was chosen president 
of the philosophical society as successor to Dr. Franklin, and was 
annually reelectecl till his death. His unassuming dignity secured 
to him respect. Soon lifter he accepted the president's chairjie made 
to the society a donation of three hundred pounds. He held the 
office of ti'easurer of Pennsylvania by an annual and unanimous vote 
of the legislature from 1777 to 1789. In this period he declined 
purchasing the smallest portion of the public debt of the state, lest 
his integrity should be impeached. In 1792 he accepted the office 
of director of the mint of the United States, but his ill state of health 
induced him to resign it in 1795. When the solitude of his study 
was rendered less agreeable by his indisposition than in former 
years, he passed his evenings in reading or conversing with his wife 
and daughters. In his last illness, which was acute and short, he 
retained the usual patience and benevolence of his temper. He died 
June 26, 1796, in the sixty fifth year of his age in the full belief of 
the Christian religion, and in the anticipation of clearer discoveries 
of the perfections of God in the eternal world. He w^s a man. of 



500 ROB. 

extensive knowledge. Being intimately acquainted with the French, 
German, and Dutch languages, he derived from them the discoveries 
oi" torei'^n nations. His mind v/as the reposilory of all ages and 
countries. He did not enjoy indeed the advantages of a public educa- 
tioa, but his mind was not shackled by its forms, nor interrupted in 
its pursuit of greater subjects by ti.e cicdms of subjects minute and 
trifling. In his political sentiments he was a republican ; he was 
taught by his father to admire an elective and representative govern- 
ment ; he early predicted the immense increase of talents an^ 
knowledge, which would be infused into the American mind by ou'- 
republican constitutions ; and he anticipated the blessed effects < I 
our revolution in sowing the seeds of a new order of things in othi 
parts of the world. He believed political as well as moral evil to be 
intruders into the society of man. In the more limited circles of 
private liic he commanded esteem and affection. His. house and 
his manner of living exhibited the taste of a philosopher, the sim- 
plicity of a republican, and the temper of a Christian. He possess- 
ed rare modesty. His researches into natural philosophy gave 
him just ideas of the divine perfections, for his mind was not preoc- 
cupied m early life with the fictions of ancient poets and the vices of 
the heathen gods. But he did not confine himself to the instructions 
of nature; he believed the Christian revelation. He observed as 
an argument in favor of its truth, that the miracles of our Savior 
differed from all pretended miracles in being entirely of a benevolent 
nature. The testimony of a man possessed of so exalted an under* 
standing outweighs the declamations of thousands. He died believ- 
ing in a life to come, and his body was interred beneath hh observatory 
near his house. He published an oration, delivered before the phi- 
losophical society, 1775, the subject of which is the history of astron- 
omy, and a few memoirs on mathematical and astronomical subjects 
in the first four volumes of the transactions of the society. — Bush's 
eulogium ; American nefws ; Miller, n. 372. 

ROBBINS (Chandler,©, d.), minister of Plymouth, Massachu- 
setts, was born at Branford, Connecticut, August 24, 1738, and was 
the son of the reverend Philemon Robbins of that town. He was 
graduated at Yale college in 1756, being distinguished as a correct 
classical scholar. On the thirtieth of January 1760 he was ordained 
at Plymouth as successor of Mr. Leonard. Here he continued till 
his death June 30, 1799, in the sixty first year of his r.;ye, and the 
fortieth of his ministry. He was succeeded by the reverend James 
Kendall. Dr. Robbins was a man of eminent talents, and he discharg- 
ed the duties of a minister of the gospel with unabating zeal and 
fidelity. Searching the scriptures for religious truth and coinciding 
in the result of his investigations with the sentiments of 'the found- 
ers of the first church in New England, he inculcated the doctrines 
of the gospel with energy and fervor. He was unwearied in his 
endeavors to impress the thoughtless, and to render siniul men holy. 



ROB. 501 

In private and social life he was amiable and exemplary. He pub- 
lished a sermon on the death of Mrs. Elizabeth Watson, 1767; a 
reply to John Cotton, esquire ; some brief remarks on a piece by J. 
Cotton in answer to the preceding, 1774; election sermon, 1791 ; 
convention sermon, 1794. — S/iaw's sermon on his death. 

ROBERTS (Charles), remarkable for longevity, died in Berk- 
ley county, Virginia, February 17, 1796, aged one hundred and six- 
teen years. He was a native of Oxfordshire, England, but had re- 
sided in America about eighty years. During his long life he never 
knew sickness.-— Co/wrad/aw centinel, July 16, 179j5. 

ROBINSON (John), minister of the English church at L(^ydeu« 
a part of which first settled New England in 1620, was born in 
Great Britain in 1575, and educated at Cambridge. After holding 
for some time a benefice near Yarmouth in Norfolk, when a society 
of dissenters was formed in the north of England about the year 
1602, he was chosen their pastor with the reverend Mr. Clifton. 
Persecution drove his congregation into Holland in 1608, and he 
soon followed them. At Amsterdam, where they found emigrants 
of the same religious sentiments, they remained about a year ; but 
as the minister, Mr. John Smith, was unsteady in his opinions, Mr. 
Robinson proposed a removal to Leyden. Here they continued 
eleven years, and their numbers so increased, that they had in the 
church three hundred communicants. They were distinguished 
for perfect harmony among themselves and for friendly intercourse 
with the Dutch. Mr. Robinson, when he first went into Holland, 
was a most rigid separatist from the church of England ; but by 
conversation with Dr. Ames and Mr. Robert Parker he was con- 
vinced of his error and became more moderate, though he condemn- 
ed the use of the liturgy and the indiscriminate adm,ission to the 
sacraments. In 1613 Episcopius, one of the professors of the uni- 
versity of Leyden, the successor of Arminius, and of the same doc- 
trine with him, published some theses, which he engaged to defend 
against all opposers. Mr. Robinson being earnestly requested to 
accept the challenge by Polyander, the other professor, who was a 
Calvinist, he held the disputation in the presence of a numerous 
assembly, and completely foiled Episcopius, his antagonist. In 
16 17, when another removal was contemplated, Mr. Robinson enter- 
ed zealously into the plan of making a settlement in America. His 
church was liable to be corrupted by the loose habits of the Dutch, 
and he wished it to be planted in a country, where it might subsist 
in purity. The first settlers of Plymouth in 1620, who took with 
them Mr. Brewster, the ruling elder, Averc the members of his 
church, and it was his intention to follow them with the majority, 
that remained ; but various disappointments prevented. He died 
March 1, 1625, in the fiftieth year of his age, and in the height of 
his usefulness. A part of his church and his v/idow and children 
afterwards came to New England. Kc v'c's a man of good genius, 



302 IIGG. 

quick penetration., ready wit, great modesty, integrity, and candor. 
His classical leai'ning and acuteness in disputation were acknowl- 
edged by his opponents. He was also discerning and prudent in 
civil affairs. Such was his liberality, that lie esteemed all men,tliat 
seemed to be truly pious, of whatever denomination. In his princi- 
ples of church govern nient he was himself an independent or congre- 
gationalist, being of opinion, that every church is to consist only of 
such as appear to believe in and obey Christ ; that the members » 
have a right to choose their own officers, which are pastors, or 
teaching elders, ruling elders, and deacons ; that elders, being or- 
dained, h^ve no power but by consent of the brethren ; that all el- 
ders and churches are equal ; and that only the children of commu- 
nicants are to be admitted to baptism. He celebrated the supper 
every Lord's day. In his farewell address to the first emigrants to 
New England, he reminded them, that neither Luther nor Calvin 
could have penetrated into the whole counsel of God, and being con- 
fident that the Lord had more truth to break forth from his holy 
word exhorted them to be ready to receive it without attachment to 
party. But he enjoined it upon them to take heed what they re- 
ceived as truth, to examine, to consider, and to compare it with other 
parts of scripture. He published a defence of the Brownists ; jus- 
tification of the separation from the church of England ; people's 
3>lea for the excercise of prophesying, 1618 ; essays moral and di- 
vine, 1628. — BelknafCs Amer. biog.\\. 151 — 178 ; JVeaVs JV. E.i. 
76—85, 122, 123 ; Morse and Parhli's JV. E. 63 — 67 ; Adams' J\r. 
E. 20 ; Prince^ 4, 20—29, 36 — 38, 66 — 71, 9 1 — 93 ; Morton^ 2, 5 
— 10, 70 ; Holmes' annals^ i. 196 — 199, 240, 484 ; Collect^ hist. sac. 
iv. 140; vii. 268 — 270; Mai's puritansy ii. 49 ', Hazard,!. 96,554:, 
372. 

ROGERS (Nathaniel), minister of Ipswich, Massachusetts, was 
the son of the reverend John Rogers of Dedhara, in England, and 
=was a descendant of John Rogers, the martyr. He was born about 
the year 1598. After being educated at Emanuel college, Cam- 
bridge, he preached in different places with high reputation. The 
evils, to which his puritan drinciples exposed him, induced him to 
come to New England. He sailed June 1, 1636, but did not cast 
anchor in Massachusetts bay till the sixteenth of November. In the 
following year he was a member of the synod together with Mr. 
■Partridge, who came in the same vessel. He was settled in the 
place of Mr. Ward as colleague with Mr. Norton at Ipswich Febru- 
ary 20, 1639. He died July 3, 165 5, having been infirm for some 
time. As a preacher he possessed a lively eloquence, which charm- 
ed his hearers. Though one of the greatest men among the first 
settlers of New England, he Avas very humble, modest, and reserv- 
ed. He published a Iciter to a member of the house of commons 
in 1643, in which he pleads a reformation of church affairs, and he 
left in manuscript a vindication of the congregational church gov* 



ROG. SOS 

«»rnnient in Latin. — Magnolia, iii.104 — 108 ; JVoncrniform.memoridly. 
iii. 259 ; Jo/mson, 88, 89 ; Winthrop, 114, 291. 

ROGERS (Ezekiel), first minister of Rowley, MasiachusettS> 
was born in England in 1590, and was the son oi the reverend Rich- 
ard Rogers of Wethersfield. After being educated at Cambridge, 
he became the chaplain of sir Francis Barringtcn. His preaching 
was in a strain of oratory, which delii^hted his hearers. He after- 
wards received the benefice of Rowley, where his benevolent la- 
bors were attended with great success. At length his nonconform- 
ity obliged him to seek a refuge from persecution in New Eng- 
land, where he arrived in 1638, bringing with him a number of re- 
spectable families. He commenced the plantation at Rowley in 
April 1639, and on the third of December was oi'dained. He died 
aftier a lingejing sickness January 23, 1661, aged seventy years. 
His libi'ary he bequeathed to Harvard college, and his house and 
lands ta the town for tlie support of the ministxy. In the latter part 
of his life it pleased God to overwhehn him with calamities. A fall 
from his horse deprived him of the use of his right hand ; much of 
his property was consumed by fire ; and he buried two wives and 
all his children. He was pious, zealous, and persevering. His fee- 
ble health induced him when in England to study the science of 
medicine. Though his strong passions sometimes misled him ; 
yet he was so humble as readily to acknowledge his error. He 
preached the election sermon in 1643, in which he vehemently ex- 
horted his hearers never to choose the same man governor for two 
successive years ; but his exhortation was disregarded, for Mr. Win- 
throp v/as reelected. — Magna/ia, iii. 101 — 104 ; Morse and Parish's 
JSI'.E. 196 — 204 ; Winthro/i,l75, 196,274,275; Jolmsoriy 129, 130; 
Holmes' annals, i, 3 1 1 . 

ROGERS (John), president of Harvard college, was graduated 
in this seminary in 1 649. He v/as the son of the reverend Nathan- 
iel Rogers, with whom he preached some time as an assistant at 
Ipswich, but at length his inclination to the study of physic withdrew 
his attention from theology. After the death of president Oakea 
he was elected his successor in April 1 682, and was installed Au- 
gust 12, 1683. He died suddenly July 2, 1684, the day after com- 
mencement, in the fifty fourth year of his age. He was succeeded 
by Dr. Increase Mather. Mr. Rogers was rcnaarkable for the 
sweetness of his temper, and he united to unfeigned piety the ac- 
complishments of the gentleman. — Mather's viagjudiay iv. 130 ^■ 
Hutchinson, \. 175. 

RUSSELL (James), a member of the council of Massachusetts, 
was born in Charlestown August 16, 1715, and died April 24, 1798> 
in the eighty third year of his age. He discharged tlie duties of a 
counsellor and a judge, and of other public offices, which he sus- 
tained, with the greatest fidelity. To the poor he was a steady and 
liberal friend. He respected the institutions of the gospel, and 



504 RUT. 

while his family and his closet witnessed his constant devotions, his life 
adorned the religion, which he professed. In his last illness he was 
supported and consoled by the truths of the gospel. His son, the hon- 
orable Thomas Russell, esquire, one of the first merchants in the 
United States, and distinguished for his beneficence to the poor, died 
in Boston April 8, 1796, in the fifty sixth year of his age. — Morse's 
sermon on his death ; Warreti, i. 143. 

RUTLEDGE (John), governor of South Carolina, took an early 
and distinguished part in support of the liberties of his country at 
the commencement of the late revolution. He was a member of 
the first congress in 1774. When the temporary constitution of 
South Carolina was established in March 1776 he was appointed its 
president, and commander in chief of the colony. He continued 
in this station till the adoption of the new constitution in March 
ir78, to which he refused to give his assent. He was opposed to 
it, because it annihilated the council, reducing the legislative author- 
ity from three to two branches, and was too democratic in its fea- 
tures. In 1779 however he was chosen r^overnor, with the author- 
ity in conjunction with the council to do whatever the public safety 
required. He soon took the field at the head of the militia. All 
the energies of the state were called forth. During the siege of 
Charleston at the request of general Lincoln he left the city, that 
the executive authority might be preserved, though the capital 
should fall. Having called a general assembly in January 1782 he 
addressed them in a speech, in wliich he depicted the perfidy, ra- 
pine, and cruelty, which had stained the British arms. An election 
of a new governor being then rendered necessary by the rotation 
established, Mr. John Mathews was appointed his successor. Mr. 
Rutledge died January 23, 1800. He was a man of eminent talents, 
patriotism, decision, and firmness. — Ramsay's 5. C i. 55, 61, 93 — 
98 ; ii. 19, 23, 125, 332 — 349 ; Marshall^ ii. 382 ; iv. 28. 

SALTONSTALL (Gurdon), governor of Connecticut, waS 
born in Haverhill, Massachusetts, March 27, 1666, and was gradu- 
ated at Harvard coUetje in 1684. He was ordained November 25, 
169 1 minister of New London, where he continued for several years, 
being highly esteemed. In 1707 by the advice of the clergy he 
was persuaded to undertake the chief direction of the civil aflairs of the 
colony, and he was annually chosen governor till his death Septem- 
ber 24, 1724, h) the fifty ninth year of his age. He was both a pro- 
found divine and a consummate statesman. The complexion of 
the Saybrook platform was owing to his desire of bringing the mode 
of church government somewhat nearer to the presbyterian form. 
To a quick perception and a glowing imagination he united correct- 
ness of judgment. The majesty of his eye and deportment was 
softened by the features of benevolence. As an orator the music 
of his voice, the force of his argument, the beauty of his allusions, the 
ease of his transitions, and the fulness of his diction gave him a 



SAN. 505 

high rank. His temper was warm, but he had been taught the art 

of self command, for he was a Christian. idams' fun. sermon ; Bos^ 

ton neivsletter^ October 1, 1724; 

SANDEMAN (Robert), the founder of the sect of Sandemani- 
ans, was born at Perth in Scotlund about the year 17 18, and educated 
at St. Andrew's. Having married a daughter of Mr. Glass he be- 
came one of his followers. In his preaclung he represented faith 
as the mere operation of intellect, and maintained, that men were 
justified witnout holiness, merely on speculative belief. This tkith 
however, he contended, would always, whe.ever it existed, produce 
the Christian virtues, so that his system cannot be charged with 
opening a door to licentiousness. In 1762 he went to London and 
established a conajregation. Hecame to Ameiica in October 1764, 
and from Boston he went to Danbury in Connecticut. In that town 
he gathered a church in July 1765. Having established several socie- 
ties in New England, he died at Danbury April 2, 1771, aged fifty 
three years. He published an answer to Hervey's Theron and Aspa- 
sio in 2 vols, 8vo, 1757. This work is ingenious, though it exhibits a 
great deal of asperity. Mr. Hervey himself acknowledged, that the 
author had pwinted out sovne errors in his writings, and had the most 
exalted views of divine grace.-— A^fw antigen biog. diet.; Rabbins^ 
cent, serin, at Danbury ; Collect, hist. soc. x. 61, 7 1 ; 

SARGEANT (Njvthaniel Peaslee), chief justice of the su- 
preme court of Massachusetts, was graduated at Harvard college in 
1750. He received the above appointment in December 1789, and 
died at Haverhill in October 1791, aged sixty years. 

SCH AICK. (GoNSEN Van), a brigadier general in the army of the 
United States, died at Albany in July 1789, aged fifty three years. 
He distinguished himself in April 1779 by proceeding from fort 
Schuyler and burning the Onondaga Indian settlements, killing 
twelve Indians, and making thirty four prisoners without the loss of 
a single man. His party consisted of five hundred. — Collect, hist, 
soc. ii. 164 ; Gordon., iii. 264 ; Marshall., iv. 54 ; Holmes., ii. 422. 

SCHUYLER (Peter), mayor of the city of Albany, was much 
distinguished for his patriotism, and for the influence, which he 
possessed over the Indians. In the year 1691 he headed a party of 
three hundred Mohawks and with about the same number of En- 
glish made a bold attack upon the French settlements at the north 
end of lake Champlain. He slew three hundred of the enemy. 
Such was the authority of colonel Schuyler with the five nations, 
that whatever Quider (for so they called him, as they could not pro- 
nounce Peter) recommended had the force of law. In 1710 he 
went to England at his own expense, taking with him five Indian 
chiefs, for the purpose of exciting the government to vigorous 
, measures against the French in Canada. The chief command in 
New York devolved upon him as the eldest member of the council 
in 1719 ; but in the following year governor Burnet arrived. He 

65 



506 SCH. 

often warned the New England colonies of expeditions meditated 
aguinst them by the French and Ind'idns.^Smith's J^. Y. 66 — 152 ; 
Charlevoix, nouv. Fr.n. 225,292,340; Hutchinson, ii. 142, 163, 
172 ; Holmes' annab, i. 481 ; Marshall, i. 275. 

SCHUYLER (Philip), a major general in the revolutionary war, 
received this appointment from congress June 19, 1775. He was 
directed to proceed immediately from New York to Ticonderoga, 
to secure the lakes, and to make preparations for entering Canada. 
Being taken sick in September the command devolved uyKtn Mont- 
gomery. On his recovery he devoted himself zealously to the man- 
agement of the affairs in the northern department. The superin- 
tendence of the Indian concerns claimed much of his attention. On 
the approach of Burgoyne in 1 777 hemade every exertion to obstruct 
his progress ; but the evacuation of Ticonderoga by St. Clair occa- 
sioning unreasonable jealousies in regard to Schuyler in New England 
he was superseded by Gates in August, and congress directed an in- 
quiry to be made into his conduct. It was a matter of extreme 
chagrin to him to be recalled at the moment, when he was about to 
take ground and to face the enemy. He afterwards, though not in 
the regular service, rendered important services to his country in 
the military transactions of New York. He was a member of the 
old congress, and when the present government of the United States 
commenced its operation in 1789, he waS" appointed with Rufus 
King a senator from his native state. In 1797 he was again ap- 
pointed a senator in the place of Aaron Burr. He died at Albany- 
November 18, 1804, in the seventy third year of his age. Distin- 
guished by strength of intellect and upright intentions he was wise 
in the contrivance and enterprising and persevering in the execu- 
tion of plans of public utility. In private life he was dignified, but 
courteous, a pleasing and instructive companion, affectionate in 
his domestic relations, and just in all his dealings. General Ham- 
ilton married his daughter. — Marshall, ii. 237, 301 — 306 ; iii. 3, 4, 
226 — 258,273; iv. 449 ; Gordon, ii. 176,426,474, 488; JV. Y. 
spectator^ JVov. 28, 1804 ; Monthly anthology, i. 669. 

SCREVEN ( ), a brigadier general in Georgia during the 

late war, commanded the militia, when that state was invaded from 
East Florida in November 1778. While a party of the enemy was 
marching from Sunbury toAvards Savannah he had repeated skir- 
mishes with them at the head of a hundred militia. In an engage- 
jnent at Midway, the place of his residence, he was wounded by a 
musket ball, and fell from his horse. Several of the British imme- 
diately came up and upbraiding him with the manner, in which a- 
captain Moore had been killed, discharged their pieces at him. He 
died soon afterwards of his wounds. Few oflicers had done more 
for their country, and few men were more esteemed and beloved for 
their virtues in private \\{e.—— Ramsay's S. C. ii. 2 ; Holmes' annalsj 
ii. 406. 



♦l 



SEA. 507 

SEABURY (Samuel, d. d.), first bishop of the episcopal church 
in the United States, was the son of the reverend Mr. Seabury, con- 
gregational minister at Groton and afterwards episcopal minis- 
ter at New London, and was born in 1728. After being grad- 
uated at Yale college in 1751, he went to Scotland for the pur- 
pose of studying medicine ; but iiis attention being soon direct- 
ed to theology he took orders in London in 1753. On his re- 
turn to this country he was settled in the ministry at Brunswick in 
New Jersey. In the beginning of 1757 he removed to Jamaica on 
Long Island ; and thence in December 1766 to West Chester. 
In this place he remained till the commencement of the war, when 
he went into the city of New York. At the return of peace he 
settled in New London in Connecticut. In 1784 he went to En- 
gland to obtain consecration as bishop of the episcopal church of 
this state, but meeting with some obstruction to the accomplish- 
ment of his wishes, he went to Scotland, where on the fourteenth 
of November he was consecrated by three nonjuring bishops. Af- 
ter this period he discharged for a number of years at New London 
the duties of his office in an exemplary manner. He died Feb- 
ruary 25, 1796, aged sixty eight years. He published the duty of 
considering our ways, 1789; a discourse delivered at Portsmouth 
at the ordination of Robert Fowle, 1791 ; and two volumes of ser- 
mons, which evince a vigorous and well informed mind. After his 
death a supplementary volume was published in 1798.— -Miller's 
retrosfiectj ii. 369, 491 ; Chandler's life q/' Johnson, 64 ; Backus., 
iii. 22. 

SERGEANT (John), missionary among the Indians, v/as born 
at Newark, New Jersey, in 171G, and was graduated in 1729 at 
Yale college, where he was afterwards a tutor for four years. In 
October 1734 he went to Houssatonnoc, an Indian village in the wes- 
tern part of Massachusetts, and began to preach to the Indians. That 
he might be enabled to administer to them the Christian ordinances 
he was ordained at Deerfield August 31, 1735. He died at Stock- 
bridge July 27, 1749, in the forty ninth year of his age. The rev- 
erend Jonathan Edwards succeeded him. He was supported in 
part by the commissioners of the society for propagating the gospel, 
and in part by individuals in England, whose munificence reached 
him through the hands of the reverend Dr. Colman of Boston. He 
had baptized one hundred and twenty nine Indians, and forty two 
were communicants at the time of his death. With great labor he 
translated the whole of the new testament excepting the revelation 
into the Indian language, and several parts of the old testamenL 
In his life he was just, kind, and benevolent. The Houssatonnoc 
or Stockbridge Indians, of which he once had the care, now live at 
New Stockbridge in the state of New York, and have been for many 
years under the care of his son, the reverend John Sergeant. He 
published a letter to Dr^ Colmau on the education of the children 



508 SEW. 

of the Indians, and a sermon on the causes and danger of delusions 
in rclii^ion, 1743. — Hopkins^ hint. mrmGh's of Housmtonnoc Indians ; 
Panofilist^ ii. 352 — 355, 396 — 400, 446 — 450 ; Holmes* life of 
Stiles, 20. 

SEWALL (Samuel), chief justice of the supreme court of 
Massachusetts, was born in England March 28, 1652. His father, 
had before this time been in America and in 1634 began the settle- 
ment of Newbury. He tinaliy establisiied hiniseil in this country 
in 1661, when his son was nine years old. In his childhood judge 
Sewall was under the instruction of Mr. Parker oi Newbury. He 
vas graduated at Harvard college in 1671. Having been appointed 
a magistrate or assistant of Massachusetts, in 1688 he went to Eng- 
land. In 1692 he was appointed in the new charter one of the coun- 
cil, in which station he continued till 1725. He was made one of 
the judges in 1692, and chief justice of tlie superior court in 1718. 
This office as well as that of judge of probate for Suffolk he resign- 
ed in 1728 on account of infirmities. He died Janua-y 1, 1 730, in 
the seventy eighth year of his age. Eminent for piety, wisdom, 
and learning, in all the relations of life he exhibited the Christian 
virtues, and secured universal respect. For a Ion., course of years 
he was a member of the old south church, and one of its greatest 
ornaments. He was constant in his attendance upon public worship, 
keeping his bible before him to try eveiy doctrine. He read the 
sacred volume every morning and evening in his family, and his 
prayers with his household ascended to heaven. A friend to every 
follower of Christ, he was liberal, hospitable, and benevolent. He 
■was critically acquainted with the Latin, Greek, and Hebrew lan- 
guages. In his last sickness he was resigned, patient, and compos- 
ed, placing his whole dependence for salvation upon the Redeemer. 
He left behind him a diary in three volumes, which embraces about 
forty years. From this it appe-rs, that as one of the judges at the 
trial of the Salem witches in 1692 he concurred in the sentence of 
condemnation ; but he afterwards of his own accord made a conles- 
sion of his error. It was read by his minister, Mr. Willard, on a 
day of public fast, and is preseived in his d'ary. He published an 
answer to queries respecting Amerira. 1690; proposals, touching 
the accomplishment of the prophecies, 4to, 1713; Phcenomena 
quacdam Apocalypiica, &c or a description of the new heavens and 
earth, 4lo, 2d eclit. 1727 — Prince's fun. scrrn. ; Boston iitiv.sletter, 
January 8, 1730; Holmes' annals, ii. 8, 9 ; Jlutihinson, ii. 61. 

SEWALL (Joseph, d. d.), mhiister in Boston, was the son of 
the preceding, and was born August 26, 1688. He was graduated 
at Harvard college in 1707. Having evinced a serious disposition 
• from his earliest days, he now directed his attention to the study of 
theology. Though a member of one of the first families in the 
country, he s«uglit no worldly object, it being his supreme desire 
to serve God in the gospel of his Son. He was ordained minister of 



SEW. 509 

the old south church in Boston, as colleague with'tlie reverend Mr. 
Pembei ton, September 16, 1713. Alter surviving tluee colleagues, 
Pemberton, Prince, and Cumniing, he died June 27, 1769, in the 
eighty first year of his age, and the fifty sixth ot his ministry. His, 
colleague, the reverend Samuel Blair, was dismissed in October of 
the same year, and in 1771 the reverend John Bacon and the rever- 
end John Hunt were ordained ministers of this church. Dr. Sewall 
possessed respectable abilities, and was well acquainted with classical 
learfting. In 1724 he was chosen president ot Harvard college, but 
such was his humility and the elevation of his views, that he declmed 
the appointment, wishing rather to contmue in the oflice of a minis- 
ter of the gospel. His chief glory was the love of God and the zeal 
to do good, for which he was conspicuous umong his brethren. lew 
ininisters have ever lived with such uniform reference to the great 
end of their office. Deeply interested himself in the truths of re- 
ligion, he reached the hearts of his hearers ; and sometimes his 
voice was so modulated by his feelings, and elevated with zeal, as 
irresistibly to seize the attention. Though he was deliberate and 
cautious, he was courageous in withstanding error. He could sac-* 
rifice every thing for peace but duty, and truth, and holiness. Dur- 
ing his last illness, which continued for a number of months, he was 
rennrkable for his submission and patience. While he acknowl- 
ed'^ed himself to be an unprofitable servant, he looked to the atoning 
sacrifice of Christ for pardon. He spuke of dying with cheerfulness. 
Sometimes he was heard to say with great pathos, " come. Lord Je- 
sus, come quickly." At lengtli he died as one, who was assured of 
a happy immortality. Pie published a sermon on family religion, 
1716; on the death of Wait Winthrop, 1717; king George I, 
Thomas Lewis and Samuel Hirst, 1727 ; a sermon on the death of 
his father, 1730; Benjamin Wadsworth, 1737; Josiah Willard, 
1756 ; Thomas Prince, 1758 ; Alexander Gumming, 1763 ; a caveat 
against covetousness, 17 18 ; election sermon, 1724 ; on aday of prayer 
for the rising generation, 1728 ; at the ordination of three mission- 
aries, 1733 ; fast sermon before the general court, 1740 ; sermon at 
Thursday lecture ; the Holy Spirit convincing the world of sin, of 
righteousness, and of judgmeiit, tour seiTnons, 1741; on a day of 
prayer ; on the love of our neighbor, 1742 ; sermon on Revelation 
v. 11, 12,1745; on the reduction of Havannah, 1762. — Chauncy^s 
fun. sermon; Boston evening fiost, July 5, 1769. 

SEWALL (Stephen), chief justice of the superior court of 
Massachusetts, was the nephew of the honorable Samuel Sewall, 
and the son of major Stephen Sewall of Salem. His mother was a 
daughter of the reverend Jonathan Mitchei of Cambridge. He was 
born in December 1702, and was graduated at Harvard college in 
1721. Having instructed a school in Marblehead far several years 
he began to preach with great acceptance. In 1728 lie was chosen a 
tutor in t\\e college, and he filled this office till 1739,-»when he was 



510 SEW. 

called to talce ascjlifon the bench of the superior court. On the death 
of ci.ief justice Dudley in 1752 he wus appcinled to succeed him, 
though he was not the senior of the surviving judges. He was also 
soon elected a laember of the council and continued such till his 
deatn, tnough it was with difficulty, that he could be prevailed upon 
to accept the appointment, as he questioned the propriety of sus- 
taining at the same time the two offices. After a useful and honor- 
able life he died September 10, 1760, in the filty eighth year of his 
age. He was distinguished for genms and learning. He united in 
an uncommon degree quickness of apprehension with a deeply pen- 
etrating and capacious mind. As a tutor, he proved, that there was 
a perfect consistency between the most vigorous and resolute exer- 
tion of authority and the most gentle and complacent manners. 
Thougn he was a very humble and modest man he supported the 
dignity of a judge. He was an exemplary Christian, and while he 
constantly attended upon the institutions of the gospel, he offered up 
sacrifices to the Lord in his own house, though as he was never 
man led his family cannot be supposed to have had the deepest in- 
terest in his affections. His charity to those in want was so great, 
that it has been thought excessive. Pie had a deep reverence of 
the Supreme Being, and often spoke with approbation of the cir- 
cumstance in the character of sir Matthew Hale, that he never 
mentioned the name of God without making a pause in his discourse. 
•— May hew* s fun. sermon ; Collect, hist. soc. x. 158, 159. 

SEW ALL (Stephen), first Hancock professor of Hebrew in 
Harvard college, was born at York, in the district of Maine, Massa- 
chusetts, in April 1734, and was graduated at the above seminary 
in 1751. When the office of Hebrew instructer became vacant by 
the resignation of Mr. Monis, he was appointed his successor in 
1762. Hebrew had sunk into contempt in the hands of Mr. Monis, 
but it was now brought into honor. When Mr. Hancock founded 
the professorship of Hebrew, Mr. Sewall was the unrivalled candi- 
date. He was inaugurated June 17, 1765, and continued in office 
above twenty years. He took an early part in the late revolution. 
After he lost his professorship he led a very retired life till his death 
July 23, 1804, in the seventy first year of his age. His lectures 
proved him to have possessed an elegant taste. He published a 
Hebrew grammar, 8vo, 1763 ; oratio funebris in obitum D.Edvardi 
Holyoke, 1769; an oration on the death of professor Winthrop, 
1779 ; the scripture account of the Schechinah, 1794 ; the scripture 
history, relating to the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrha, and to 
the origin of the salt sea, or lake of Sodom, 1796 ; translation of 
the first book of Young's night thoughts in Latin ; carmina sacra, 
quae Latine Grxceque condidit America, 1789. He wrote an admi,- 
rable Chaldee and English dictionary, which is in manuscript in the 
library of Harvard college. — Monthly unthobpj, I. 430 ; Lit. miaccf- 
lanyy ii. 221/ 



SHE. 511 

SHEPARD (Thomas), minister of Cambridge, Massachusetts, 
was bom near Northampton iu England November 5, 1605, and was 
educated at Emanuel college, Cambridge. While m this seminary 
it pleased God in infinite mercy to awaken him from his natural 
state of thoughtlessness and sin, to convince him, that he had been 
entirely selfish in his desires and contfhct, to inspire hicn with holy 
principles, and to render him a humble disciple of Jesus Christ. 
He met afterwards with many kinds of temptations ; but, as he said, 
he was never tempted to Arminianism, his own experience so per- 
fectly confuting the freedom of the will. After he left the univer- 
sity he was eminently useful as a preacher His puritan principles 
at length exjKtsing him to persecution, he narrowly escaped the 
pursuivants, and arrived at Boston in this coai>try October 3, 1635. 
After the removal of Mr. Hooker and Mr. Stone to Connecticut he 
formed a church at Cambridge and took the charge of it February 
1, 1636. Here he continued till his death August 25, 1649, aged 
forty four years. He was succeeded by Mr. Mitchel. As a preacher 
of evangelical truth, and as a writer on experimental religion he 
was one of the most distinguished men of his lime. It was on ac- 
count of the energy of his preaching and his vigilance in detecting 
and zeal in opposing the errors of the day, that when the foundation 
of a college was to be laid, Cambridge rather than any other place 
was pitched upon as the seat of the seminary. He was the patron of 
learning and essentially promoted its interests. He was distinguish- 
ed for his humility and piety. Under heavy afflictions he acknowl- 
edged that he deserved nothing but misery, and bowed submissive 
to the divine will. He usually wrote his sermons so early for the 
sabbath, that he could devote a part of Saturday to prepare his 
heart for the solemn and affectionate discharge of the duties of the 
following day. He published theses sabbaticse ; a letter, entitled, 
New England's lamentation for old England's errors, 1645 ; cau- 
tions against spiritual drunkenness, a sermon ; subjection to Christ 
in all his ordinances the best means to preserve our liberty, to which 
is added another treatise on ineffectual hearing of the word ; the 
sincere convert ; the sound believer, which is a discriminating trea- 
tise on evangelical conversion ; singing of psalms a gospel ordi- 
nance ; the clear sunshine of the gospel upon the Indians, 4to, 
1648 ; a treatise of liturgies, power of the keys, and matter of the 
visible church, in answer to Mr. Ball, 4to, 16 53; the evangelical 
call ; select cases resolved and first principles of the oracles of God ; 
these were republished together with meditations and spiritual ex- 
periences, extracted from his private diary, by Mr. Prince of Bos- 
ton, 1747 ; of the right use of liberty ; the parable of the ten vir- 
gins, a posthumous work in folio transcribed from his sermons, 
preached from June 1636 to May 1640 ; the church membership 
of children and their right to baptism, 1663 ; the saint's jewel and 
the seul's imitatirn of Jesus Christ, two sermons ; tlie four la's! 



512 SHE: 

thin{j5, 4:to.--'Mal/ie}''iitnagiialiu,ni. 84' — 93 ; Collect, hist. soc. vii. 
17, 42 — -17 ; M-a'.'A- JV. E, i. 296 ; Morton^ 142 ; Holmes^ annaln., i. 
349 ; IFinl/iro/i., 87, 95 ; Johnson's wondtr ivork.firovid. 77. 

SHEPARD (Thomas), minister ot Charlestown, Massachusetts, 
■was tlie son of tlic preceding-, and was gradu.ited at Harvard col- 
Ies;c in 1653. He was ordairftd April 13, 1659, as colleague to Mr. 
Zechariah Symmes, After a ministry of eighteen years he died 
of the small pox December 22, 1677, in the forty third year of his 
age. President Oukes in a Latin oration delivered at commenc^- 
inent represents Mr. Shepard as distinguished for his erudition, 
prudence, modesty, and integrity, as a strenuous defender of the 
orthodox faith, and as holding the first rank among the ministers of 
his day. He published the election sermon, 1572. In Mather's 
magnalia there is preserved a puper of excellent instructions to his 
son, a student at college, who afterwards succeeded him at Charles- 
town in 1680, but died in 1685. — Magnalia, iv, 189 — 191,202 ; 
Oaken' elegy. 

SHERMAN (John), minister of Watertov/n, Massachusetts, 
"was born in England in 1613, and educated at Cambridge. His pu- 
ritan principles induced him to come to this country in 1634. Af- 
ter being a short time an assistant to Mr. Phillips at Watertown^ 
he removed to Connecticut, where he p.-eached occasionally aud 
was elected a magistrate of the colony. But after the death of Mr. 
Pliillips in 1664 he returned to Watertown, and was minister in 
that place till his death August 8, 1685, in the seventy second year 
of his age. He was succeeded by the reverend Henry Gibbs. Be- 
sides being a distinguished divine Mr. Sherman was an eminent 
mathemaiician, and he published a nui"nber of almanacs, to which 
pious rellections were added. Though he was a very humble man, 
in his prciching there was an unaffected loftiness of style, and his 
discourses were enriched with figures of oratory. He was twice 
married, having by his first wife six children and twenty by his last. 
— Ma'^malia., iii . 1 6 2 — 165. 

SHERMAN (Rogek), senator of the United States, was born at 
Newton, Massachusetts, April 19, 1721. He was not favored with 
a public education, nor difl he enjoy the assistance of a priv^te tu- 
tor. But his genius and indefatigable industry enabled hi;ri to sur- 
mount difficulties, and to make great acquisitions. He removed to 
New Mil ford, Connecticut, in June 1743. Having acquired a com- 
petent knowledge of the law, he was admitted to the bar in 1754. In 
tiic following year he was appointed a justice of the peace ; he was 
•also chosen a representative in the Icixi'^hitnre and a deacon in the 
church. Removingto Now Haven in 1761 , he was in 1766 chosen 
an assistant of the colony, and appointed a judge of the superior 
court, wliich office he held for twenty three years. He was a mem- 
bcT* of the first congress in 1774, and continued a member till his 
death, c:;ccpiing :vhcn the law, requiring a rotation, excluded him. 



SHI. 513 

He was one of those, who signed the act of indepeaidencc in 1776. 
During the war he was a member of the governor's council of safe- 
ty for the state of Conaecticut. After the adoption of the consti- 
tution of the United States, of the convention for framing which he 
was a conspicuous member, he was elected a representative to con- 
gress. Being chosen a senator in 1791 he continued in this station 
till his death July 23, 1793, aged seventy two yeais. His talents 
were solid and useful. While others would yield to difvicuUics, or 
content themselves with a superficial view of a subject, he was ca- 
pable of long and deep investigation. He was discerning, prudent, 
and indefatigable. Having made a public profession of religion at the 
age of twenty one, he was never usliamed to advocate the peculiar 
doctrines ot the gosi>e!, which are generally so unwelcome to men 
of cultivated minds. His sentiments were derived from the word 
ef God and not from the CKertions of his own reason. In the rela- 
tions of private life he secured esteem and affection. — Edwards* 
sermon o?i /lis death; Alassa. miss. mag. iv. 441 — 445. 

SHIPPEN (Edward), one of the first settlers of Pennsylvania, 
was a native of England, and a member of the society of friends. He 
came to Massachusetts to avoid persecution, but persecution drove him 
thence to Pennsylvania, in which colony he was speaker of the house of 
assembly, and member of the governor's council. He was also the 
first mayor of Philadelphia. His descendants have been persons 
of distinction to the present day. — Miller^ ii. 340. 

SHIPPEN (Edward, ll. d.), chief justice of Pennsylvania, re- 
ceived this appointment in 1799, but resigned it in February, 1806, 
He died on the fifteenth of April following in the seventy eighth 
year of his age. 

SHIPPEN (William, m. d.), first professor of anatomy in the 
university of Pennsylvania, was a native of that colony and was grad- 
uated at the college in New Jersey in 1754. After studying medi- 
cine for some time in Philadelphia, he completed his medical education 
at Edinburgh. After his return he commenced in 1764 a course of 
lectures on anatomy at Philadelphia, which were the first ever pro- 
nounced in the new world. Being one of the founders of the medical 
school, he was appointed professor of anatomy in 1765. He had to 
struggle with many difiiculties, and his life was sometimes endan- 
gered by a mob in consequence of his dissections. But he lived to 
see the institution divided into five branches, all of which were 
supplied with able professors, his own pupils, and become a rival to 
the medical school at Edinburgh. Instead of the ten students, 
whom he first addressed, he lived to address two hundred and fifty. 
About the year 1 777 he was appointed director general of the medical 
department in the army of the United States in the place of Dr. 
Morgan. He resigned his professorship in 1806 into the hands of his 
colleague, Dr. Wistar, and died at Germantown, Tu3y 1 1, 1803. in 
6'3 



514 SHI. 

the seventy fifth year of his age.—Pano/iKst and mi»s. mag. unitedj 
i. 142, 143 ; RaTnaaifs review of medicine^ 37 ; Miller, i. 320. 

SHIRLEY (William,) governor ot Massuchusetts, was a native 
of England, and was bred to the law. Alter his arrival at Boston 
about the year 1733 he practised in his profession till he received 
his commission as governor in 1741 in the place ot Mr, Belcher. 
He planned tlie successful expedition against cape Breton in 1745 , 
but while liis enterprising spirit deserves co.nmendation, some of 
his schemes did not indicate much skill in tue arts ot navigation and 
war. He went to England in 1745 leaving Spencer Phips, the lieuten- 
ant governor, commander in chief, but returned in 1753, In 17 54 
he held a treaty with the eastern Indians, and explored the Kenne- 
bec, erecting two or three forts. In 1755, beuig commander in 
chief of the Britisli forces in America, he planned an expedition 
against Niagara, and proceeded himself as far as Oswego. In the 
last of June 1756 he was susperseded in the commaiid of the army 
by Abercrombie. Being recalled from Massachusetts, he embark- 
ed for England in September, and was succeeded by Mr. Pownall. 
After having been for a number of years governor of one of the Ba- 
hama islands, he returned to Massachusetts, and died at his seat in 
Roxbiuy March 24, 1771. Though he held several of the most lu- 
crative offices within the gift of the crown in America, yet he left 
no property to his children. The abolition of the paper currency 
was owing in a great degree to his firmness and perseverance. His 
penetration and unremitiing industry gained hiixi a nigh reputation. 
But it was thought, that as a military officer, he was not sufficiently 
active in seizing tlie moment for success. During his administra- 
tion England learned the importance of this country, and the colo- 
nists learned to fight, and thus were trained for the mighty contest, 
which in a fev/ years commenced. His instructions to Shirley, 
with a full account of the expedition against Louisbourg are pre- 
served in the first volume of the historical collections.— -//w/cAz/iion, 
ii.399 — 408, 433 ; Minof, i. 62, 74, 1 1 1, 275, 291 — 297 ; Belkna/i's 
JV. H. ii. 187, 209, 225, 296 ; Marshall, i. 305. 402, 405 ; Collect. 
Hist. soc. i. 5 — 60 ; Holmes' anrja's, ii. 163, 168^, 213, 299. 

SHUTE (Samuel), governor of Massachusetts, was the son of 
an eminent citizen of London. His mother was the daughter of 
the reverend Mr. Caryl, a dissenting minister of distinction. His 
early education was under the care of Mr. Charles Morton. 
From London he was sent to Leyden, and afterwards he entered the 
army of king William^ served under Marlborough, and became a 
lieutenant colonel. He was wounded in one of the principal battles 
in Flanders. Arriving at Boston as governor October 4, 1716, in 
the place of Dudley, he continued in oflice a little more than six 
years. He embarked January 1, 1723, on Iiis return to England with 
complaints against the province. Governor Burnet succeeded him. 
During his administration he maifitaiiied a warm controversy with 



SHU. 515 

the house of representatives. He endeavored in vain to procure a 
fixed salary, an object, which Dudley.>had sought without effect. His 
right of negativing the speaker was denied, and his powers as com- 
mander in chief were assumed by the house.^ In consequence of 
his complaints an explanatory charter was pi'ocured in 1724, which 
confirmed the governor in the rights, for which he had contended. 
tie died in England April 15, 1742, aged eighty years. — Hutchin- 
s'oTiy ii. 215 — 217, 231, 238 ; Minot,\. 61. 

SHUTE (Daniel, D.D.), minister of Hingham, Massachusetts, was 
:i)orn July 19, 1722, and was graduated at Harvard college in 1743. He 
was ordained pastor of the second church in Hingham December 10, 
1746. By the failure of his sight being under the necessity of quitting 
Jiis public labors in March 1799, the reverend Mr. Whitney was or- 
dained his colleague January 1, 1800. Under the infirmities of age 
he was serene and patient. He died August 30, 1802, in the eighty 
£rst year of his age, and fifty sixth of his ministry. He possessed a 
strong mind, and his discourses exhibit extent of thought and cor- 
rectness of diction. He was cheerful and pleasant in the intercourse 
©f social life. He was a member of the convention, which formed 
the constitution of Massachusetts and of that, which adopted the con- 
stitution of the United States. He published artillery election ser- 
mon, 1767 ; election sermon, 1768 ; a sermon on the death of rev- 
erend Dr. Gay, 1787. — Ware*s sermon on his death ; Mew England 
ftalladhnn Sefiteniber 10, 1802 ; Columbian centinel^ Sept. 9. 

SITGRE AVES (John), district judge of North Carolina, was an 
officer in the revolutionary war, and a member of congress after the 
peace. He died at Halifax, North Carolina, in March t802. 

SKELTON (Samuel), one of the first ministers of Salem, Mas- 
-sachusetts, was a preacher in Lincolnshire, England, and being per- 
secuted for his nonconformity came to this country in June 1629, 
and was ordained with Mr, Higginson at Salem on the sixth of Au- 
gust. After the death of his colleague he had for his assistant the- 
famous Roger Williams. Mr. Skelton died August 2, 1634. 
Though strict in discipline be was a, friend to the utmost equality of 
privileges in church and state. His fears of the assumption of au- 
thority by the clergy made him jealous of the ministers, who used 
'to hold a meeting once a fortnight for mutual improvement.-— 
Johnson, 22 ; Morton, 82, 83, 86; Prince, 183—189, 191 ; Magna- 
lia, i. 16 ; iii, 74, 76 ; Wiiifhrop, 57, 68 ; Meal's JV. E. i. 140, 157^ 
Collect, hist. soc. .vi. 244, 247, 248 ; ix. 2 ; Morse and Parish's JV.E. 
74,100; Holmes' annals, \. 2 SO. 

SMIBERT (John), a portrait painter, was for many years very 
eminent in his profession in Boston, in which town it is believed he 
died after the middle of the last century. 

SMITH (John), the father of the colony of Virginia, was born in 
Lincolnshire, England, in 1579. He early discovered a romantic 
vgenius, and delighted In daring and extravagant actions. At tb..e 



516 SMI. 

3ge of thirteen he sold his books and satclicl to raise money in order 
to convey himself privately to sea, but was prevented. Being an 
apprentice to a merchant he quitted his master at the age of fifteen, 
and went into France and the low countries. After his return he 
studied military hihtory and tactics, and having recovered a part of 
the estate, which his father left him, he was enabled to set out again 
on his travels at the age of seventeen in a better condition than be- 
fore. Having embarked at Marseilles for Italy with some pilgrims, 
a tempest ol)liged them to anchor near a small island oiT Nice. As 
his comj)anions attributed their uniavoralile voyage to the presence 
of Smith, they threw the heretic into the sea ; but by swimming he 
was enabled to reach the shore. After going to Alexandria, he en- 
tered into the service of the emperor of Austria against ihc Turks. 
By his exploits he soon obtained the command of two hundred and 
fifty horsemen. At the siege of Regal the Ottomans sent a chal- 
lenge, purporting that the lord Tuvbisha to divert the ladies would 
iight any captain of the Christian troops. Smith accepted it, and 
meeting his antagonist on horse back in view of the ladies on the 
battlements killed him and bore away his head. A second antago- 
nist met the same fate. Smith then requested, that if the ladies 
■wished for more diversion another champion might appear. His 
Lead was added to the number of the others, though Smith narrowly 
escaped losing his own. He was afterwards taken prisoner ; but by 
killing his tyrannical master he escaped into Russia. When he re- 
turned to England, he formed the resolution to seek adventures in 
North America. Having persuaded a number of gentlemen in 1 606 
to obtain a patent of South Virginia, he engaged in tlic expedition, 
which was fitted oat under the command of Christopher Newport, 
and arrived with the first emigrants, who made a permanent settle- 
ment, in the Chesapea^ April 26, 1607. A colony was begun at 
James Town, and the government was in the hands of a council, of 
which Smith was a member. When Newport returned more than 
a hundred persons were left in Virginia. They would have perish- 
ed with hunger but for the exertions of Smith in procuring corn of 
the Indians. When he could not effect his object by purchase, he 
would resort to force. He once seized the Indian idol Okec, made 
of skins stuffed with-moss, for the redemption of which as much 
corn was brought him, as he required. While'exploring the Chick- 
ahominy river he was taken prisoner, after having killed with his 
own hand three of the enemy. He was carried to the emperor 
Powhatan, who received him, clothed in a robe of racoon skins, and 
seated on a kind of throne, with two beautiful girls, his daughters, 
near him. After a long consultation two large stones were brought 
in, and his head was laid upon one of them. At this moment, when 
the war clubs were lifted to despatch him, Poca'.ontas, the king's 
favoiite daughter, shielded him from the blows, atul by Iier entrea- 
ties saved his life. He was sent to James Town, where by his res- 



SMI. 517 

olution, address, and industry he prevented the abandonment of the 
plantation. In 1608 he explored the whole country irom cape 
Henry to the river Susquehannah, sailing about three thousand 
miles. On his return he drew a map of Chesapeak bay and of the 
rivers, from which all subsequent maps have been chiefly copied. 
In this year, when he was president of the council, by his severity 
and his example he rendered the colonists exceedingly industrious. 
It happened however, that the blistered hands of several young gen- 
tlemen, who had known better times in England, called forth fre- 
quent expressions of impatience and profaneness. Smith caused 
the number of every man's oaths to be noted daily, and at night as 
many cans of water to be poured inside his sleeve. This disci- 
pline so lessened the number of oaths, that scarcely one was heard 
in a week, and it perfectly restored the subjects of it to good humor. 
In 1609 being much injured by an explosion of gunpowder, he re- 
turned to England for the benefit of medical assistance. In 1614 
he ranged the coast of what was then called North Virginia from 
Penobscot to cape Cod in an open boat with eight men. On his 
return he formed a map of the country, and desired prince Charles, 
afterwards '* the Foyal martyr," to give it a name. By him it was 
for the first time called New England. After other adventures 
Smith died at London in 1631 in the fifty second year of his age. 
For all his services and sufferings he never received any retompense. 
He published the sixth voyage, made to Virginia, 1606; tlie first 
voyage to New England with the old and new names, 1614 ; a rela- 
tion of his second voyage to New England, 1615 ; description of 
N. E. 1617 ; New England's trials, declaring the success of twenty 
six ships, employed thither v/ithin these six years. Sec. 1620 ; the 
general history of Virginia, New England, and the Summer isles, 
with the names of the adventurers. Sec. from 1584 to 1626, also the 
maps and descriptions of all those countries in six books, folio, 1627; 
his friend, Mr. Pui'chas, had published in his pilgrims most of the 
narrative part before ; the true travels, adventures, and observations 
of captain John Smith in Europe, Asia, Africa, and America, from 
1593 to 1629, folio, 1630; this is preserved entire in Churchill's 
collections ; advertisements for the inexperienced planters of New 
England, 4to, 1630. — Smith's travels ; his Virginia; Churchill's col- 
lect, ii. ; Belknaji's Jmer. biog. i. 240 — 319 ; Keith^ 58 — 119 ; 
Stith, 45 — 107; Purchas, v. 1705 — 1731, 1838 ; Holmes' annals, 
i. 153 — 167, 183, 184 ; Chalmers, i. 17 — 29 ; Marshall, i. 31 — 47. 

SMITH (Samuel), a historian, was a native of Burlington, New 
Jersey, in which place he died in 1776. He published a history of 
New Jersey from its settlement to 1721, 8vo, 1765, which is a judi- 
cious compilation. 

SMITH (William), chief justice of the province of New York, 
was graduated at Yale college in 1745. He published a history of 
the province of New York from the first discovery to the year 1732, 



518 SMI. 

410,1757. This was written at an early period of his life, but it 
contains valuable information.— MjY/er, ii. 141. 

SMITH (JosiAu), minister in South Carolina, Avas the first na- 
tive of that province, who received a literary degree. He was born 
in Charleston in 1704, and graduated at Harvard college in 1725. 
He was ordained in Boston as minister for Bermuda July 1 1, 1726, 
and afterwards became pastor of the presbyteiian church in Chai'les-, 
ton, South Carolina. He closed a useful and honorable life in 1781 
at Philadelphia, whither he had been induced to fly during the revo- 
lutionary war. He maintained in the early part of his ministry a 
learned disputation with the reverend Hugh Fisher on the right of 
private judgment. He published a sermon at his own ordination ; 
the spirit, of God a holy fire, 1726 ; the duty of parents to instruct 
their children, 1727; the young man warned ; Solomon's caution 
against the cup, 1729 ; human impositions proved unscriptural ; 
answer to a postscript of a sermon of Mr. Hugh Fisher ; the di- 
vine right of private judgment vindicated, 1730 ; a sermon on the 
death of Hannah Dart, 1742 ; Jesus persecuted in his disciples ; 
zeal for God encouraged and guarded, 1745 ; a volume of sermons, 
1752 ; the church of Ephesus arraigned, the substance of five 
short senrtons contracted into one, 1765. — Miller's retrospect.^ ii. 
363. 

SMlTfl (Thomas), first minister of Portland, Massachusetts, 
was the son of Thomas Smith, esquire, merchant of Boston, and 
was born March 21, 1702. He was graduated at Harvard college 
in 1720. In 1726 he went to Falmouth, now Portland, as chaplain 
to the troops stationed there, and preacher to the inhabitants. He 
was ordained March 8, 1727, the day, on which a church was gath- 
ered. Though he received for his colleague the reverend Mr. 
Deane in 1767, he preached in his turn till the close of 1784, and 
officiated in public prayer till within a year and a half of his death. 
He died May 23, 1795 in the ninety fourth year of his age,renounc- 
' ing all self dependence, and placing his hope in the mercy of God 
through the merits of the Redemer. In his preaching he always 
inculcated the doctrines of grace. He published a sermon at the 
ordination of Solomon Lombard at Gorham, and a sermon to sea far- 
ing men. — Deane's sermon and Kcllogg's oration on his death. 

SMITH (Robert, d. d.), minister in Pennsylvania, was born of 
Scotch parents in Londonderry, Ireland, about the year 1723, and 
was brought to this country about the year 1730. At the age of 
sixteen or seventeen years he became the subject of that divine in- 
fluence, which so eminently accompanied and blessed the preaching 
of Mr. Whiteficlilduring his first visit to America. Having resolved 
to devote himself to the service of his Redeemer, he pursued his 
classical and theological studies for several years under the instruc- 
tion of the reverend Samuel Blair. In 1751 he was settled in the 
presbyterian church at Pequea in Pennsylvania, in which station he 



SMI. 519 

coBtbiued to officiate with reputation and usefulness till his death 
about the year 1783 in the sixty third year of his age. Dr. Smith 
was one of the most able theologians, the most profound casuists, 
and the most successful preachers of his age. Soon after his set- 
tlement he founded a school at Pequea, designed chiefly for the in- 
struction of youth m the Latin, Greek, and Hebrew languages. In 
this school, which he always superintended himself, he employed 
the most respectable teachers. Many young men, who have sinco 
filled very honorable stations in church and state, received in it 
their classical education. It was his care to instil with the elements 
of literature the priticiples of a pure and ardent piety. Though he 
was remarkably modest, yet in the pulpit he knew not the fear of 
man ; his mind was filled with the divine presence, and all earthly 
distinctions and feelings were lost in the majesty of God. His 
preaching was most solemn and fervent. During his whole minis- 
try he was for only one sabbath prevented by sickness from enter- 
ing his pulpit ; and on that day, though confined to his chamber by 
a fever, he sent for the principal members of his church, and spoke 
to them with his usual energy on the comforts, the joys, and the 
duties of religion. His labors were not confined to his own people, 
for his benevolent zeal frequently carried him to the various parts 
of an extensive district among churches and societies destitute of 
the stated ordinances of religion. Knowing the value of time, he 
suffered not a moment to be lost. He combined numerous duties 
in perfect order. He slept but little, and after spending the morn- 
ing in his closet and his study, he was to be found during the re- 
TUitinder of the day either in his pulpit or his school, or among the 
people of his charge, imparting pious advice and instructing their 
children in the principles of the gospel. His wife, the sister of the 
reverend Mr. Blair, was a woman of an excellent understanding and 
of unaffected piety. In his absence she always conducted the de- 
votions of the family with dignity and fervor. Of his children two 
embraced the profession of medicine, and three entered at an early 
age on the sacred ministry, and have since filled some of the most 
respectable stations in the church as well as in. the literary institu- 
tions of this country. In the fourth volume of the American 
preacher there are published three of his sermons, entitled, tlie na^ 
ture of saving faith ; the excellency of saving faith ; practice uses 
from the nature and excellency of saving faith. — dssembly's miss, 
mag. ii. 1—6 ; Massachusetts miss. mag. iii. 361 — 366. 

SMITH (John Blaik), first president of Union college at 
Schenectady in the state of New York, was the son of the preced- 
ing, aod was born June 12, 1736. In early life he exhibited marks 
of uncommon energy of mind, and w^s distinguished by an ingenu- 
ous habit of speech and behavior. He received much parental at- 
tention, and was the subject of many pious prayers; and those 
prayers were heard in heaven. When he was about fourteen vears 



520 SMI. 

of age, it pleased God to excite among the youth in the acatJemy at 
Pequea a serious attention to religion. His mind was at this period 
deeply impressed by the truths of the gospel ; he was renewed by 
the agency of the Holy Spirit ; and in a short time he avowed 
himselt a disciple of Jesus. From the year 1773, when he was 
graduated at the college of New Jersey, he devoted himself al- 
most entirely to theological studies under the direction of his broth- 
er, the reverend Samuel S. Smith, at that time president of Hamp- 
den Sidney college in Virginia, and since president of the college 
of New Jersey. He was licensed to preach by the presbytery of 
Hanover in 1778. In 1779 he was settled over a church in Virgin- 
ia, and at the same time he succeeded his brother as principal of the 
seminary of Hampden Sidney. Here he was eminently honored by 
the great head of the church in being made instrumental in promot- 
ing a general religious solicitude and reformation among the people 
of his charge and of the neighborhood. As he was now called to ex- 
traordinary exertions, he generally preached once at least every day, 
and in the evenings he was commonly engaged in religious conver- 
sation. His engagements interfering with the attention due to the 
college, he resigned this part of his charge, that he might give him- 
self wholly to the work of the Christian ministry. His zeal was 
rewarded by the success, which attended his labors, but as his health 
was enfeebled, he was persuaded to accept an invitation from the 
third presbyterian church in Philadelphia, where he was installed in 
December 1791. When Union college at Schenectady was found- 
ed in 1795 he was placed at the head of it, and he presided over 
the seminary for three years with high reputation. But amidst his 
literary occupations the duties of the sacred office most warmly in- 
terested hi-n. He improved every opjK)rtunity for preaching the 
gospel of his Redeemer. Being again invited to his former charge 
in Philadelphia he returned to that city in May 1799. His succes- 
sor in the care of the college was Dr. Edwards. In a short time 
he was seized with the yellow fever, of which he died August 22, 
1799 in resignation and joyful hope. — Jsse?nl)ly's ?niss. viag. i. 267—- 
272 ; Blah-'s sermon on his death ; JV. Y. miss. mag. i. 128 ; Month- 
ly mag . and Amer , rerzVTO, ii. 145 ; £dwar-ds* iv.orks, Eng. edit. i. 
118. 

SMITH (Robert, d. d.), first bishop of the episcopal churches 
in South Carolina, died at Charleston in November 1801 in the sev- 
enty third year of his age. He had for forty seven years discharged 
the duties of a minister of St. Philip's church. 

SMITH (William, d. d.), first provost of the college in Phila- 
delphia, was a native of Scotland, and received his education,at the 
university of Aberdeen, where he was graduated in 1747. The 
three following years he spent in teaching in a parochial school, and 
in 1750 was sent up to London in pursuance of some plan for the 
better endowment of such schools. In London he was induced t© 



SMI. 521 

Relinquish the employment, in which he was engaged, and to em- 
bark for America, where he soon afterwards arrived. Alter being 
employed upwards of two years as a private tutor in the family of 
governor Martin on Long Island in the province of New York, he 
was invited to take the charge of the college in Philadelphia, and he 
accepted the invitation. After revisiting England, and receiving 
regular ordination in the episcopal church in December 1753. he 
he returned to America, and in May 1754 was placed at the head of 
the infant seminary. His popular talents and taste in polite litera- 
ture contributed greatly to raise the character of the college. He 
was principally assisted by the reverend Dr. Allison. After being 
for many years a distinguished preacher and writer, and rendering* 
important service to the literary interests of America, he died at Phil- 
adeiphialvlay 14, 1803, aged seventy six years. He published a sermon 
delivered before freemasons, 1755 ; discourseson several public occa- 
sions during the war in America, 1759,and a second edition with seve- 
ral sermons added, 1763; a discourse concerning the conversion of the 
heathen in America, 1760 ; an account of the charitable corporation 
for the widows of clergymen of the church of England, 1769; an 
oration before the American philosophical society, 1773 ; a sermon 
on the present crisis of American affairs, preached June 23, 1775 ; 
in this he says that no one had advanced the idea of independence, 
and he disclaimed it, and yet he would support the chartered rights 
of the colonies; an oration in memory of Montgomery, 1776 j 
on temporal and spiritual salvation, 1790. His works were publish- 
ed in two vols. 8vo, 1803. — Miller's retrosfiect^n. 352,353 ; Chand- 
ler's life of Johnson^ 87. 

SMITH (Elihu Hubbard), an eminent physician of New York, 
was born at Litchfield, Connecticut, in 1771, and was graduated at 
Yale college in 1786. After pursuing a regular course of medical 
studies under the direction of his father, he commenced the practice 
of physicat Wethersfieldin 1792, but removed to New York in 1793. 
In 1797 he commenced the medical repository in conjunction with 
Drs. Mitchill and Miller. He fell a victim to the yellow fever in 
1798. At his early age he had explored a vast extent of medical 
learning. His diligence, and ardor, and perseverance knew no 
commoo bounds. His writings display singular acuteness, great 
force of reasoning, and the talents of accurate and extensive obser- 
vation. Besides his medical productions in the repository, he pub- 
lished Edwin and Angelina, or the banditti, an opera in three acts, 
1797. — Miller^ i. 325, 326 ; Medical refiository, sec. edit, hexadc \u 
V. 214, 215 ; Monthly mag. 1798, -l02. 

SMITH (Isaac), a judge of the supreme court of New Jersey, 
was graduated at the .college in that state in 1755, and afterwards 
commenced the practice of physic. From the beginning of the 
troubles with Great Britain he was dislingiiished for his patriotic 
services in the cause of his country. In 1776 he commanded a 
6Y 



522 SOU. 

» 

regiment, and during the periods of gldoni and dismay he \^as firm 
and persevering. He associated valor with discretion, the disciplin- 
ed spirit of the soldier with the sagacity of the statesman. Soon 
after the termination of the struggle, he received his appointment as 
judge, and for eighteen years discharged the ardous duties of that 
r.tation. After the present constitution of the United States was 
formed, he was a member of the house of representatives, and was 
esteemed by Washington and Adair.s. Endowed with fine talents, 
and having enjoyed a classical education, he united the chai-acter of 
a Christian, scholar, soldier, and gentleman. He died August 29, 
1807, in the sixty eighth year of his age, in hope of mercy through 
the Redeemer. — Portfolio, nem series, i. 135, 136. 

SOUTH CAROLINA, one of the United States of America, 
was first granted with North Carolina and Georgia to the earl of 
Clarendon and others in 1663. A small plantation had for a num- 
ber of years been established within the boundaries of the patent. 
A more ample charter was obtained in 1664, and the government 
was placed in the hands of the proprietors. Tiiis proprietary gov- 
ernment continued about fifty years. In 1719 a change was effected 
in it by the inhabitants. They refused to do any business with the 
proprietary governor, but at the same time offered to obey him, if 
he would hold his authority in the name of the king of England. 
This being refused they chose a different governor, and bound them-- 
selves by an association to stand by each other in the defence o^ 
their rights. From this period the government was regal. The 
governor was appointed by the crown, and he had a negative on all 
the bills passed by the assemblies. The English constitution was 
the model. During the proprietary government the colony was 
involved in perpetual quarrels. Harrassed by the Indians, infested 
by pirates, invaded by the French and Spanish fleets, agitated with 
internal dissensions, it did not much flourish. But after the change 
in the government it increased rapidly. In 1729 the province of 
Carolina was divided into the two distinct governments of North and 
South Carolina. This state took an early and decided part in the 
struggle with Great Britain. It was the first of the United States, 
that formed an- independent constitution ; but as this was done on 
temporary principles it was new rriodelled after the declaration of 
independence by the continental congress. The present constitu- 
tion of South Carolina was adopted in 1790. It establishes a legis- 
lature of two branches, a house of representatives and a senate, the 
members of the former to be chosen every second and of the latter 
every fourth year ; and they by a joint vote elect the governor for 
two years. The judges hoUl their commissions during good bQ« 
havior, being appointed by the legislature. — liamsni/shist. revolU' 
tion in 6', Carolina ; Heivatt's histor. acct. of S. Car. and Georgia i 
Holmes' annals ; Morse's geog. 



SPR. 523 

SPROAT (James, d. d.), minister in Philadelphia, was born at 
Scituate in Massachusetts April II, 1722, and was graduated at 
Yale college in 1741. While a member of this seminary he heard 
a sermon by the reverend Gilbert Tennent, v/hich made the mosjt 
permanent impressions upon his mind. He was ordained August 
23, 1743, a minister in Guilford, where he was highly popular and 
very useful. His exertions were directed to extend the revival of 
religion, which prevailed in this country at the time of his settle- 
ment. From Guilford he removed to Philadelphia, and succeeded 
Mr. Tennent at the close of the year 1768. Here he continued till 
his death, October 18, 1793, in the seventy second year of his age. 
The reverend Dr. Green, his colleague, survived him. The man- 
ner of his funeral showed the high esteem, in which he was held. 
It was at the time, when the yellow fever made such ravages in the 
city, and when evea two or three mourning friends were seldom seen 
attending a corpse to the grave. About fifty persons followed him, 
and some religious negroes voluntarily offered themselves to carry 
the bier. These grateful, generous Africans proved themselves 
worthy of the highest commendation. Dr. Sproat was a respectable 
divine, and in his preaching he loved to dwell on the peculiar doc= 
trines of the gospel. His life exhibited a most amiable view of the 
influence of religion. The copious extracts from his diary in the 
assembly's magazine evince his piety and submission to the will of 
God under the heaviest afflictions, and give an affecting account of 

the distress, occasioned by the ravages of the yellow fever. </s- 

semb. miss. wag. i. 315—321, 361 — 366, 414~418, 461 — 470; 
Maasa. miss. mag. v. 81 — 85 ; Collect, hist. soc. x. 95. 

STANDISH (Miles), the hero of New England, was born in 
Lancashire about the year 1584. After having been for some time 
in the army in the Netherlands, Jie settled with Mr. Robinson's con? 
gregation at Leyden. Though not a member of the church he em- 
barked with the first company, that came to New England in 1 620, 
and was chosen captain or chief military commander at Plymouth. 
In every hazardous enterprise he was foremost ; he was resolute 
and daring.; and often Avhen in great danger was guarded by the 
providence of God. In 1623 he was sent to Wessagusset or Wey- 
mouth to protect the settlers there from a conspiracy of the Indians, 
which Masassoit had disclosed. Having chosen eight men he went 
to the plantation under the pretence of trade, and he found it in a 
most perilous condition. The people by their unjust and disorderly 
conduct had made themselves contemptible in the eyes of the In*- 
dians. To give the savages satisfaction on account of corn, which 
had been stolen, they pretended to hang the thief, but nung in his 
stead a poor, decrepid, r'ld man. After Standish arrived at Wey- 
mouth, he was insulted and threatened by the Indians, who had beeii 
named as conspirators. Taking an opportunity, when a number 
«f them were together he killed five without losing any of his 



524 STE; 

men. He himself seized Pecksuot, a bold chief, snatched hi» 
knife from his neck, and killed him with it. The terror, with 
•which this enterprise filled the suvages, was of great advantage to 
the colonists. When the report of this transaction was carried to 
Holland, Mr. Robinson in his next letter to the governor exclaimed, 
" O that you had converted some before you had killed any." Cap- 
tain Standish was one of the magistrates or assistants, as long as he 
lived. He died in 1656 at Duxliorough, where he had a tract of 
land now known by the name of captr.in's hill. Mr. Hubbard says 
of him," a little chimney is soon fired ; so was the Plymouth cap- 
tain, a man of a very small stature, yet of a very hot and angry tem- 
per—He had been bred a soldier in the low countries, and never 
entered into the school of Christ, or of John the baptist." It does 
not appear however, that in his military expeditions he exceeded 
his orders. Morton says, that he fell asleep in the Lord. — Delknaji^H 
Amer.diog.'x.ZXQ — 336; Morton, \55; Pnnce,\26 — 132; Holmes' 
annals, i. 207, 22J, 369 ; Hutchinson, ii. 461 ; Morse and Parish's 
A. E. 240 — 249 ; M-al's AT. E. i. 101, 310. 

STEUBEN (Fredekick William, baron de), a major gen- 
eral in the American army, was a Prussian officer, who served many 
years in the armies of the great Frederick, was one of his aids, and 
had held the rank of lieutenant general. He arrived in New Hamp- 
shire from Marseilles in November 1777 with strong recommenda- 
tions to congress. He claimed no rank, and only requested permis- 
sion to render as a volunteer what services he could to the American 
army. He was soon appointed to the office of inspector general 
with the rank of major general. He established a uniform system 
of manoeuvres, and by his skill and persevering industry effected 
during the continuance of the troops at Volley Forge a most impor- 
tant improvement in all ranks of the army. He was a volunteer in 
the action at Monmouth, and commanded in the trenches cf York 
Town on the day, which concluded the struggle with Great Britain. 
He died at Steubenville, New York, November 28, 1794, aged 
sixty one years. He was an accomplished gentleman and a virtuous 
citizen, of extensive knowledge and spund judgment. An abstract 
of his system of discipline was published in 1779, and in 1784 
he published a letter on the subject of an established militia and 
military arrangements. — Marshall, iii. 381 — 384; Gorrfc;??, iii. 67, 
68 ; Collect, hist. soc. ii. 130; Gazette U. S. December, 26, 1794. 

STEVENS (Joseph), minister of Charlestown, Massachusetts, 
■was graduated at Hai-vard college in 1 703, and was ordained col- 
league with Mr. Bradstreet October 13, 1713. He died Novem- 
•oer 16, 1721, aged forty years. He was a fervent and eloquent 
preacher, cheerful though serious in conversation, gentle as a father, 
■ and beloved by all his congregation. There was published from 
his manuscripts his last sermon, entitled, another and a better coun- 
try in reserve for all true believers, and annexed to it a discourse or. 



STE. 525 

the death of the reverend Mr. Brattle of Cuiabridge.— CoZwcn's 
pref. to the above. 

STEVENS (Benjamin, d. d.)> tninistcr of Kittery, Massachu- 
setts, was the son of the preceding, and was graduated at Harvard 
college in 1740. His ordination took place May 1, 1751, He died 
May 18, 1791, having been respected in life as an able minister of 
the gospel, an exemplary Christian, and a modest and humble man. 
He possessed a penetrating mind and sound judgment. While he 
searched the sacred scriptures for the doctrines, which he preachedj 
he paid all suitable attention to the manner, in which he delivered 
them ; and his discourses were well studied and well written. He 
published a sermon on the death of A. Pepperell, esquire, 1752 ; on 
the death of sir William Pepperell, 1759 ; election sermon, 1761. 
—Haven's sermon on his death, 

STILES (Ezra, d. d.), president of Yale college, was the 
son of the reverend Isaac Stiles of North Haven, Connecticut, 
and was born December 15, 1727. He was graduated at the 
seminary, over which he was destined to preside, in 1746, and 
in 1749 was chosen tutor, in which station he remained six years. 
After having preached occasionally his impaired health and some 
doubt respecting the truth of Christianity induced him to pur- 
sue the study of the law. In 1753 he took the attorney's oath at 
New Haven, and practised at the bar till 175 5. But having resumed 
preaching, on the twenty second of October in this latter year he 
was ordained minister of the second congregational church in New- 
port, Rhode Island. In March 1776 the events of the war dispersed 
his congregation, and induced him to remove to Dighton. He after- 
Avards preached for some time at Portsmouth. In 1777 he was 
chosen president of Yale college, as successor of Mr. Clap. He was 
not desirous of this honor, for he loved retirement ; but he was per- 
suaded to accept it. He was installed July 8, 1778, and he continued 
in this station till his death May 12, 1795, in the sixty eighth year 
of his age. Dr. Stiles was one of the most learned men, of whom 
this country can boast. He had a thorough knowledge of the 
Hebrew, Greek, and Latin languages, the former of which he learn- 
ed when he was about forty years of age ; he had made considerable 
progress in the Samaritan, Chaldee, Syriac, and Arabic; on the 
Persic and Coptic he had bestovved some attention; and the French 
he read with great facility. He was also well versed in most 
branches ot mathematical knowledge. Next to sacred literature 
astronomy was his favorite science. He had read the works of di- 
vines in various languages, and very few have had so thoreugh an 
acquaintance with the fatliers of the Christian church. He possess- 
ed an intimate acquaintance with the Rabbinical writings. He 
was a most impressive and eloquent preacher, for he spoke with 
that zea! and energy, which the deepest interest in the most impor- 
tant subjects cannot fail to inspire. His early discourses were 



52S STL 

philosophical and moral ; but he gradually became a serious and 
powerful preacher of the momentous truths of the gospel. In the 
room of labored disquisitions addressed rather to the reason than to 
the conscience and heart, he employed his time in preaching re- 
pentance and faith, the great trutns respecting our disease and cure, 
the physician of souls and our remedy in him, the manner in which 
the sinner is brought home to God in regeneration, justification, 
sanctification, and eternal glory, the teirors and blessings of the 
world to come, the iniluence of the Holy Spirit and the efficacy of 
the truth in the great change of the character, preparatory for heaven. 
The doctrines of the trinity in unity, of the divinity and atonement 
of Christ, with the capital principles of the great theological system 
of the doctrines of grace he l)elieved to have been the uninterrupted 
faith of eight tenths of Christendom from the ascension of Jesus 
Christ to the present day. This system, he observed to his flock, 
I have received from God in the scriptures of truth, and on the re- 
view of my ministry I hope you will find, that 1 have preached the 
unsearchable riches of Christ, He delighted in preaching the gos- 
pel to the poor. Among the members of his church at Newport 
were seven negroes. These occasionally met in his study, when he 
instructed them, and falling on their knees together he implored 
for them and for himself the blessing of that God, with whom all 
distinction excepting that of Christian excellence is as nothing. In 
the cause of civil and religious liberty Dr. Stiles was an enthusiast. 
He contended, that the right of conscience and private judgment 
"was unalienable ; and that no exigencies of the Christian church 
could render it lawful to erect any body of men into a standing ju- 
dicatory over the churches. He engaged with zeal in the cause of 
his country. He thought, that the thirtieth of January, which was 
observed by the episcopalians in commemoration of the martyrdom 
of Charles I, "ought to be celebrated as an anniversary thansgiv- 
ing, that one nation on earth had so much fortitude and public jus- 
tice, as to make a royal tyrant bow to the sovereignty of the peo- 
ple." He was catholic in his sentiments, for his heart was open to 
receive all, who loved the Lord Jesus in sincerity. He was conspicu- 
ous for his benevolence, as well as for his learning and piety. The 
following extracts from his diary furnish evidence of his Christian 
goodness. " The review of my life astonishes me with a sense of 
my sins. May I be washed in the blood of Jesus, which cleanseth 
from all sin. Purify and sanctify mc, O blessed Spirit ! — I hope I 
love my Savior for his divine excellencies, as well as for his love to 
sinners ; I glory in his divine righteousness ; and earnestly be- 
seech the God of all grace to endue me with true and real holiness, 
and to make mc like himself. — I have earnestly importuned the 
youth of this university to devote themselves to that divine Jesus, 
who hath loved them to the death. And praised be God, I have 
reason to hope the blessed Spirit hath wrought cfiectually on the 



STL 527 

hearts of sundry, who have, I think, been brought home to God, 
and experienced what flesh and blood cannot impart to the human 
mind. Whether I shall ever get to heaven, and through many trib- 
ulations enter into rest, God only knows. This I know, that I am 
one of the most unworthy of all the works of God." Though in 
the first stage of his last sickness he expressed awful apprehen- 
sion of standing at the divine tribunal ; yet his hopes of heaven 
brightened as he approached the grave, and he departed in great 
calmness and peace. 

He was a man of low stature, and of a small though well propor- 
tioned form. His voice was clear and energetic. His countenance 
especially in conversation was expressive of benignity and mildness ; 
but if occasion required, it became the index of majesty and au- 
thority. He published a funeral oration in Latin on governor Law, 
1751 ; a discourse on the Christian union, preached before the con- 
gregational ministers of Rhode Island, 1760 ; in this work he re- 
commends harmony among diflfering Christians, and shows an inti- 
mate acquaintance with the ecclesiastical affairs of this country ; a ser- 
mon at the installation of reverend Samuel Hopkins, 1770 ; a Latin ora- 
tion on his induction into his office of president, 1778; the United 
States elevated to glory and honor, an election sermon, preached May 
S, 1783, which exhibits the eloquence, and patriotism, and glowing 
sentiments of liberty, v/ith which the augiist occasion could not fail 
to inspire him ; a sermon at the oidination of the reverend Henry 
Channing at New London, 1787 ; history of the three judges of 
king Charles I, Whalley, Goffe, and Dixwell, 12mo, 1795 j in this 
work he discloses very fully his sentiments on civilliberty, and pre- 
dicts a " republican renovation" in England. He left an unfinished 
ecclesiastical history of New England, and more than forty volumes 
ot manuscripts. An interesting account of his life was published 
by his son in law, the reverend Dr. Holmes, in 1798.— -Holmes' life 
of Sliles ; M-igs* oration., and Trumbull's., Dana's^ and Patten'' s ser^ 
mons on his death ; Assemb. miss. mag. i. 163 — 169. 

STILLMAN (Samuel, D d.), minister in Boston, was born in 
Philadelphia February 27, 1737. When he was but eleven years 
of age his parents removed to Charleston, South Carolina, and in 
an academy in that city he received the rudiments of his education. 
The preaching of the reverend Mr. Hart was the means of teach- 
ing him, that he was a sinner, and of converting him. Being or- 
dained at Chai'leston February 26, 1759, he immedic.tely afterwards 
settled at James' island ; but his impaired health induced him in 
1760 to remove to Bordentown, New Jersey, where he preached 
two years, and then went to Boston. After being an assistant for 
about a year in the second baptist church, he was installed the min- 
ister of the first, as successor of Mr. Condy, who now resigned his 
office, January 9, 1765. In this church he continued his benevo- 
lent labors, universally respected and beloved, till his death by a 



528 9T1, 

paralytic shock March 13, 1807, in the seventieth year of his age- 
As an eloquent preacher of the gospel Dr. Stillman held the first 
rank. Embracing the peculiar doctrines of the Christian religion, 
he explained and enforced them with clearness and with apostolic in'- 
trepidity and zeal. He possessed a pleasant and most commanding 
voice, and as he felt what he spoke he was enabled to transfuse his 
own feelings into the hearts of his auditors. The total moral de- 
pravity of man was a principle, on which in his preaching he much 
insisted, and he believed, that the Christian was dependent on God's 
immediate agency for the origin and continuance of every gracious 
exercise. From his clear apprehension of the eternal personal 
election of a certain number of the human race to salvation, he was 
led to believe the perseverance unto eternal glory of all those, who 
are regenerated by the Spirit of God. The godhead and atonement 
of the Lord Jesus Christ were his frequent themes. He was a 
preachei- of righteousness, and his own life was holy. In the cham- 
ber of sickness and afiiiction, he was always among different de- 
nominations a i!^elcome visitor. His uncommon vivacity and energy 
of feeling were united with a perfect sense of propriety, and with 
affability, ease, and politeness. He published a sermon on the re- 
peal of the stamp act, 1766 ; at the artillery election, 1770 ; at the 
ordination of Samuel Shepard at Stratham, 1771 ; on the death of 
Samuel Ward, 1776 ; election sermon, 1779 ; before a society of 
freemasons, 1789 ; apostolic preaching in three discourses, 1790 ; 
on the death of Nicholas Brown, 1791 ; a thanksgiving sermon on 
the French revolution, 1794 ; at the ordination of Stephen Smith 
Nelson, 1797 ; on the national fast, 1799 ; on the death of George 
Washington, 1 800 ; on opening the baptist meeting house in Charles- 
town ; at the ordination of Thomas Waterman, 1801 ; on the first 
anniversary of the female asylum, 1802 ; on the first anniversary of 
the Massachusetts baptist missionary society, 1803 ; at the funeral 
of Hezekiah Smith, 1805. A volume of his sermons was published 
from his manuscripts, 8vo, 1808. — Sketch firefixed to his select ser- 
mons ; Baldnvin's Jun. sermon; Pario/iUst, ii. 533— 535 ; Massa. 
bafit. miss. mag. \. 317 — 320; Polyanthosi v. 3—9; Emerald^ ii. 
159—162. 

STIRLING (Earl of), see William Alexander. 

STITH (William), president of William and Mary college, 
Virginia, was a native of that colony, and for a number of years a 
respectable clergyman. He withdrew from the laborious office, 
Aviuch he sustained in tlie college, soon after the year 1740. He 
puMishcd a history of the first discovery and settlement of Vii'- 
ginia, Williamsburg, 8vo, 1747. It brings down the history only 
to 1624. An appendix contains a collection of charters relating to 
the period, comprised in the volume. Besides the copious materi- 
als of Smith the author derived assistance from the manuscripts of 
his uncle, sir John Randolph, and from the records of the London 



I 



STO. 529 

tompany, put into his hands by colonel William Byrd, president of 
the council, and from the valuable library of this gentleman. Mr. 
Stith was a man of classical learning, and a faithful historian ; but 
he was destitute of taste in style, and his details are exceedingly 
minute. — Preface to his history ; Miller.) ii. 361 ; Jeffer&on's noteSf 
query xxiii. 

STOCKTON (Rlchard), a respectable statesman of New Jer- 
sey, was graduated at Princeton college in 1748 in the first class, 
and was for many years a distinguished patron of that seminary. 
He appeared at the bar with unrivalled reputation and success, re- 
fusing to engage in any cause, which he knew to be unjust, and 
standing forth in defence of the helpless and the injured. He filled 
the office of judge for several years with integrity and learning. 
He died at Princeton March 1, 178 I . His superior powers of mind, 
which were highly cultivated, were united with a flowing and per- 
suasive eloquence ; and he was a Christian, wiio was an honor to the 
chuvch.— Smith' syun. sermon. 

STODDARD (Solomon), minister of Northampton, Massachu- 
setts, was born in Boston in 1643, and was the eldest son of Anthony 
Stoddard, esquire. He was graduated at Harvard college in 1662. 
He was afterward^ appointed a fellow. His health being impaired, 
he went to Barbadoes as chaplain to governor Serle, and preached 
tp the dissenters on that island near two years. After his return, 
being ordained September 1 1, 1672, as successor to Mr. Mather at 
Northampton, he continued in that place till his death February 1 1, 
1729, in the eighty sixth year of his age. His ministerial labors 
were interrupted for but a short time. His colleague, Mr. Edwards, 
survived him. Mr. Stoddard was a learned man, well versed in re- 
ligious controversies, and himself an acute disputant. He maintained 
a controversy with Dr. Increase Mather respecting the Lord's supper, 
maintaining that the sacrament was a converting ordinance, and that 
all baptized persons, not scandalous in life, may lawfully approach the 
table, though they know themselves to be unconverted, or destitute of 
true religion. As a preacher his discourses were plain, experiment- 
al, searching, and argumentative. He was blessed with great suc- 
cess. He used to say, that he had five harvests; and in these 
revivals there was a general cry, what nmst I do to be saved ? He 
was so diligent in his studies, that he left a considerable number of 
sermons, which he had never preached. He wrote so fine a hand, 
that one hundi'ed and fifty of his discourses are contained in a small, 
duodecimo, manuscript volume, which with the greatest ease may 
be carried in the pocket. He published the doctrine of instituted 
churches, London, 4to, 1 700, in which he advanced some sentiments, 
that were not very well received in this country, such as the follow- 
ing ; that theLord's table should be accessible to all persons not immor- 
al in their lives, that the power of receiving and censuring members is 
vested exclusively in the eldersof the church.and that synods have pow- 
68 



^5) STO. 

er to excommunicate and deliver from church censures. He publish* 
cd also the danger of degeneracy, 1702; election sermon, 1703 ; a 
sermon on Exodus xii. 47, 48, supporting his notions with regard to 
the supper, 1707 ; a sermon at the ordination of Joseph Willard 
at Swampfield, 1708; appeal to the learned on the Lord's supper^ 
against tne exceptions of Mr. I. Mather, 1709 ; plea for tithes j^ 
divine teachings render persons blessed, 1712; a guide to Christ, 
or the way of directing souls in the way to conversion, compiled for 
young ministers, 1714; three sermons, showing the virtue of 
Christ's blood to cleanse from sin, that natural n>en are under the 
government of self love, that the gospel is the means of conversion, 
and a fourth annexed to stir up young men and maidens to praise 
the name of the Lord, 1717 ; a sermon at the ordination of Thomas 
Cheney, 1718 ; a treatise concerning conversion ; the way to know 
sincerity and hypocrisy, 1719 ; answer to cases of conscience, 1722 ; 
whether God is not angry with the country for doing so little towards 
the conversion of the Indians, 1723; safety of appearing at the 
judgment in the righteousness of Christ ; this work was republished 
at Edinburgh, 8vo, 1792, with a recommendatory preface by Dr. 
Erskine — Co/man's ser7non on his death ; Boston ne^usletter, number 
112 ; Edrjards' narrative ; Christian history for 1743, 112 ; Back- 
us* abridgment, 137, 144, 145 ; Collect, hist. soc. x. 157, 168. 

STODDARD (John), amember of the council of Massachusetts, 
was the son of the preceding, and was graduated at Harvard college 
in 1701. He discharged the duties of several important stations 
with great ability and uprightness. He was many years in the coun- 
cil, was chief justice in the court of common pleas, and colonel of a 
regiment. With a vigorous mind and keen penetration he united 
an accurate acquaintance with the concerns of the colonies and of 
the neighboring tribes of Indians. Thoroughly established in the 
principles and doctrines of the first fathers of New England, he 
greatly detested what he considered t'le opp>osite errors of more 
modern divinity. He died at Boston June 19, 1748, in the sixty 
seventh year of his age. — Edward's sermon on his death. 

STONE (Samuel), one of the first ministers of Hartford, Con- 
necticut, was a native of England, and was educated at the university 
of Cambridge. To escape persecution he came to this country with 
Mr. Cotton and Mr. Hooker, and was settled as an assistant of the 
latter at Cambridge October 11, 1633. He removed with him in 
1636 to Hartford, where he died July 20, 1663. While he ^yas re- 
garded as one of the most accurate and acute disputants of his day, 
he was also cclebrdted for his wit, pleasantry, and good humor. Be- 
ing eminently pious, he abounded in fastings and prayer, and was a 
most strict observer of the Christian sabbath. He published a con- 
gregational church is a catholic visible church. Sec. London, 1652. 
In this work, which is a curious specimen of logic, he endeavors to 
demolish the svtem of a national, political church. He left in 



STO. 531 

3i).anuscript a confutation of the antimonians, and a body of divinity. 
The latter was so much esteemed as to be often transci'ibed by 
theological students. — Mather's ma,^naha,ui. 62, 116 — 1 18 ; Truni' 
bull's Connect, i. 326 ; Morton^ 179 — 181; Holmes' annals, i. 38S i 
Collect, hist. aoc. vii. 4 1 . 

STONE (John Hoskins), governor of Maryland, was one of 
those patriots, who shed their blood in support of American inde- 
pendence. In early life and at an early period of the revolution he 
was first captain in the celebrated regiment of Smallwood. At the 
battles of Long Island, White plains, and Princeton he was highly 
distinguished. In the battle of Germantown October 4, 1777, he 
received a wound, which deprived him of bodily activity for the 
remainder of his life. But he still bent his exertions to promote 
the sane cause, for which he had bled. The powers of his mind 
remained with him, and as a member of the executive council he 
continued to serve his country till he was chosen governor in 1794. 
After being in this office three years, the constitution obliged him 
to withdraw from it. General stone died at Annapolis in 1804, 
leaving behind him the character of an honest and honorable man, 
an intrepid soldier, a firm patriot, and a liberal, hospitable, friendly 
citiztn.-— Monthly anthology,!, 572. 

STOUGHTON (William), lieutenant governor of Massachu- 
setts, was the son of colonel Israel Stoughton, early an assistant in 
the colony, who commanded the Massachusetts troops in the Pequot 
war. He was graduated at Harvard college in 1650, and becoming 
a preacher was appointed to preach the election sermon in 1668, 
though he was not a settled minister. This sermon has been rank- 
ed among the best delivered upon the occasion. After the death of 
Mr. Mitchel he declined an invitation to become his successor in 
the care of the church at Cambridge. In 1671 he was chosen a 
magistrate, and in 1677 went to England as an agent for the prov- 
ince. He was a member of the council, and. chief justice , of the 
superior court. Being appointed lieutenant governor in 1692, he 
was commander in chief from 1694 to 1699 ancfagain in 1700. He 
died at Porchester July 7^ 1701, aged seventy years. He was a 
man of great learning, integrity, prudence, patriotism, and piety. 
He was a generous benefactor of Harvard college, giving to th^t 
institution about one thousand pounds. Stoughton hall was erected 
at his expense in l(p98. He left a tract of land for the support 
of students, natives of Dorchester, at the college, and another tiapt 
for the benefit of schools. He was never married. — IVillard's serm. 
on his death ; Collect, hist. soc. ii. 10 ; vii. 30, 31 ; ix 180 ; Hutch- 
inson, ii. 23, 81, 121, 125, 127, 128 ; Meal's A''. E. ii. 174 ; Holmes' 
annals^ ii. 56 ; Nonconform, memor. i. 254. 

STUYVESANT (Peter), the last Dutch governor of New 
York, began his administration in 1647. He was continually em- 
ployed in resisting the encroachments of the English and Swedes 



532 SUL. 

upon the territory entrusted to him. In 1664 an expedition from 
England was sent cut against the Dutch possessions. Three or 
four frigates under the command ot colonel NicoUs appeared beiore 
New Amsterdam or New York, and governor Stuyvesant was sum- 
moned to surrender ; but as he was a good soldier and had lost a 
leg in the service of the States he was by no means disposed to 
comply. He returned a long letter vindicating the claims of the 
Dutch, and declaring his resolution to defend the place. He was 
however obliged to capitulate on the twenty seventh of August. 
The whole of the New Netherlands soon became subject to the 
English. He remained in this country, and at his death was buried 
in a chapel on his own farm a few miles from New Yoi'k.'— Smith's 
JV. Y. 5—23. 

SULLIVAN (John, ll. d), major general in the American army, 
and president ot New Hampshire, was appointed by congress a 
brigadier general in 1775, and in the following year, it is believed, 
a major general. He superseded Arnold in the conmiand of the 
army in Canada June 4, 1776, but was soon driven out of that prov- 
ince. He afterwards on the illness of Greene took the command 
of his division on Long Island. l<i the battle of August the twenty 
seventh he was taken prisoner with lord Stilling. In a few months 
however he was exchanged, for when Lee was carried oft", he took 
the command of his division in New Jersey on the twentieth of De- 
cember. On the twenty second of August 1777 he planned and exe- 
cuted an expedition against Staten Island, for which on an inquii y in- 
to his conduct he received the approbation of the court. In September 
he was engaged in the battle of Brandywine, and on the fourth of 
October in that of Germantown. In the winter he was detached to 
command the troops in Rhode Island. In August 1778 he laid 
siege to Newport, then in the hands of the British, with the fullest 
confidence of success ; but being abandoned by the French fleet 
imder D'Estaing, who sailed to Boston, he Avas obliged to his un- 
utterable chagrin to raise the siege On the twenty ninth an action 
took place with the pursuing enemy, who were repulsed. On the 
thirtieth with great military skill he passed over to the continent, 
without the loss of a single article, and without the slightest suspi- 
cion on the part of the British of his movements. In the summer of 
1779 he commanded an expedition against the six nations of Indians 
in New York. Being joined by general Clinton on the twenty sec- 
ond of August, he marched towards the enemy under the command 
of Brandt, the Butlers, and others at Newtown between the south 
end of Seneka lake and Tioga river, attacked them in their works, 
and completely dispersed them. He then laid waste the country, 
destroyed all their villages, and left not a single vestige of human 
industry. This severity was necessary to prevent their ravages. 
General Sullivan had made such hip^h demands fi r military stores, 
?ind had so freely complained of the government tor inattention to 



SUL. 533 

those demands, as to give much offence to some members of con- 
gress and to the board of war. He in consequence resigned his 
command on the ninth of November. He was afterwards a member 
of congress. In the years 1786, 1787, and 1789 he was president 
of New Hampshii-e, in which station by his vigorous exertions he 
queiled the spirit of insurrection, which exhibited itself at the time 
of the troubles in Massachusetts. In October 1789 he was ap- 
pointed district judge of New Hampshire. He died at his seat in 
Durham January 23, 1795, aged fifty four yeai's. — Murs/iall, ii. 362, 
367,430,458,535; iii. 135 — 137,179,488 — 520; iv. 104 — 112; 
V. Ill; Warre7i, ii. 100— .119; Gordon, ii. 503; iii. 159 — 168, 
307 — 312. 

SJLLIVA.N (James, LL.D.), governor of Massachusetts, was 
the brother of the preceding, and was born at Berwick in the district 
of Maine April 22, 1744. His father, a man of liberal education, 
cams to this country about the year 1723. He took the sole charge 
of the education of his son James and lived to see him distinguished 
in the world, dying in July 1795, in the one hundred and sixth year 
of his age. Governor Sullivan was destined for the military life, 
but the fracture of a limb in his early years induced him to bend 
the vigorous powers of his mind to the investigation of the law. 
After pursuing the study of this science under his brother, general 
Sullivan, he soon rose to celebrity, and was appointed king's attor- 
ney for the county, in wliich he resided. On the approach of the 
revolution he took an early and active part on the side of his country. 
Being a member of the provincial congress of Massachusetts in 
1775, he was entrusted together with two other gentlemen with a 
difficult commission to Ticonderoga, which was executed in a very 
satisfactory manner. Early in the following year he was appointed 
a judge of the superior court. He was a member of the convention, 
which fram.ed the constitution of the state in 1779 and 1780. In 
February 1782 he resigned his office of judge and returned to the 
practice of the bar. He was appointed a delegate to congress in 
1783 ; and in the ensuing year was one of the commissioners in 
the settlement of the controversy between Massachusetts and New 
York respecting their claims to the western lands. He was repeat- 
edly chosen to I'epresent the tov/n of Boston in the legislature, in 
1787 was a member of the executive council and judge of probate 
for Suffolk, and in 1790 was appointed attorney general, in which 
office he continued till June 1 807, when he was called to the chief 
magistracy of the commonwealth, as successor of governor Strong. 
He was appointed by president Washington agent under the fifth 
article of the British treaty for settling the boundaries between the 
United States and the British provinces. Of the American acade- 
my of arts and sciences he was one of the members from its first 
institution ; a principal founder and many years president of the 
Massachusetts historical society ; president of the Massachusetts 



534 ' SUL. 

congregational, charitable society ; and a member of the humane 
society. He was the projector of the Middlesex canal, to which 
object he devoted a great portion of time and labor. Soon after his 
second election to the office of governor his health became enfee- 
bled, and he suffered a long and distressing confinement, which ter- 
minated in his death December 10, 1808, in the sixty fifth year of 
his age. 

The various public offices, which governor Sullivan sustained du- 
ring a period of forty years, were conferred upon him by the free 
and unbiassed suffrages of his coimtrymen. As he was not assisted 
in his progress to distinction by the advantages of opulence or fam- 
ily connexions, the stations, wliich he held, were a proof of his tal- 
ents, of his indefatigable industry, and of the confidence, which was 
reposed in his integrity. If in the course of a long political career, 
in times of turbulence and party bitterness, he did not always es- 
cape the common tribute of reproach, which accompanies all illus- 
trious talents, his strongest opponents could never deny, that his 
execution of every public trust was distinguished by that peculiar 
quality, which was most appropriate to its nature. As a judge he 
■was universally acknowledged to have displayed the most perfect 
impartiality. As the public prosecutor of the state he tempered 
the sternness of official severity with the rarer tenderness of hu- 
manity. His style of eloquence was original, and adapted, with ju- 
dicious discrimination, to the occasion, the subject, and to the tribu- 
nal, before which it was called forth. Deeply versed in the science 
of the law, and cquilly well acquainted with the sources of persua- 
sion in the human mind, he was alike qualified for the investigation 
of the most intricate and complicated questions of legal dicussion, 
and for the developement of the tissues of fi\ct before juries. As 
the chief magistrate of the state, he considered himself as the del- 
egated officer not of a political sect, but of the whole people, and 
endeavored to mitigate the violence of parties. In all the relations 
■o€ domestic and social life his conduct was exemplary. He early 
made a profession of Christianity, and his belief of its truth was 
never shaken. Tne following extract from a private letter, written 
while subject to an overwhelming affliction, will show his reverence 
for the providence of the Most High. "I know, that God has 
fermed, that he guides and governs this vast universe, holding in- 
numerable worlds in their orbs. I know, that not one atom from 
the worm, that creeps in the dust, up to the highest crented intelli- 
gence, can be out of his view, or committed for one moment to for- 
tuitous events. Why tliis earth is the repository of pain and sor- 
row I know not. But I know it is so, and that Jesus Christ is the 
great Physician, who mingles the draught, prescribes the regimen, 
and pours the balm of comfort on the wounded soul. Blessed Re- 
deemer ! When he said, the cup my heavenly Father giveth me, 
•shall I not drink it ? shall I, a sinner, say that I will refuse what lie 



SUM. 5^5 

offers me ? Though he slay me, I will trust in him. I will go in> 
and out as when the candle of the Lord shined on my tabernacle. - 
I will attempt to do the duties of a citizen, of a husband, a Christ- 
ian, trying to say from my heart, Father, not my will, but thine be 
done." When his frame was evidently shattered, and he had rea- 
son to think, that God was calling him to his great account, the 
faith of Jesus was ever gaining a new ascendency in his views, and 
his thoughts expatiated with singular clearness on the scenes, \yhich 
awaited him, on the tnercy of his God, his own unworthiness, and 
the woi'th of the Redeemer, His private prayers and his domestic 
devotions, expressing at times both the joy and the anguish of his 
feelings, pi'oved that his passions were not all given to the world. 
He closed his laborious life M'ith the unshaken assurance of renew- 
ing his existence in another and better state. 

Amidst the great and constant pressure of business, which occu- 
pied him, governor Sullivan still tound time for the pursuits of lit- 
erature and science. His mind, has been compared to a native for- 
est, which had never been entirely cleared or carefully divided j 
where the light gained admission at every opening, and not through 
any regular avenue ; where the growth was rapid and thick, and 
though occasionally irregular, yet always strong ; where new seeds 
were successively shooting up, and the materials never seemed likely 
to be exhausted. He was ever ready to contribute the effort of his 
powerful and original mind to the purpose of public utility. He 
published observations on the government of the United States of 
America, 1791 ; dissertation on the suability of the states ; the 
path to >'iches, or dissertation on banks, 1792 ; history of the dis- 
trict of Maine, 8vo, 1795 ; history of land titles in Massachusetts, 
8vo, 1801 ; dissertation on the constitutional liberty of the press in 
the United States, 1801 ; history of the Penobscot Indians in the 
historical collections. Besides these works his fugitive pieces and* 
occasional communications to the public prints were very nume- 
rous — •Buckminster's sermon on his death ; Sketch of his life in Pal' 
ladiu7n, December 16, and Colianbiat* centinel, December 17, 1808 ; 
Panofilist and miss. mag', united, i. 332 — 334 ; Collect, hist. soc. ix. 
207 — 232. 

SUMNER (Inchease), governor of Massachusetts, was born in 
Roxbury November 27, 1746, and was graduated at Harvard col- 
lege in 1767. After entering upon the profession of the law he 
was chosen a representative of his native town in the legislature, 
and then a senator. In 1782 governor Hancock placed him on the 
bench of the supreme court As a judge he was dispassionate, im- 
partial, and discerning. In 1797 he was chosen governor as suc- 
cessor of Samuel Adams, and he was reelected in the succeeding 
years till his death June 7, 1799, in the fifty third year of his age". 
He possessed a strong and well balanced mirtd. His judgment 
was correct, and though he maintained an unusual degree of self 



536 SWI. 

command, yet his coolness of temper was to be ascribed rather to 
the influence of religious discipUne, than to constitutionul tempera- 
ment. He was mild, candid, and moderate, being remarkably iiee 
from every appearance of parly spirit. In the intercourse ol do- 
mestic and private life he was affectionate and faithful. Soon after 
he commenced the practice of the law, he made a public profession 
of his belief in Christianity, and his life was exemplary. His social 
hours were not passed in idle anecdote. Few persons were more 
in the habit of introducing in their familiar conversation reflections 
of a moral and religious nature. In his last sickness he observed 
to a friend, " a dying bed is not the place for one to begin to attend 
to his religion, and prepare for another worid. But I have not been 
unmindful of these concems. I have thought much of them. The 
more I have reflected on the subject of religion, the more has my 
mind been settled and confirmed in its reality and importance. I 
am sensible th.it many infirmities and errors have attended me ; but 
I trust I have the testimony of my conscience to the general recti- 
tude of my views and conduct in life." — Porter's and Thacher's ser- 
mons on his death. 

SWIFT (Job, d. d.), minister of Bennington, Vermont, was born 
in Sandwich, Massachusetts, in 1743, and was graduated at Yale 
college in 1765. About the year 1766 he was ordained at Richmond, 
Massachusetts, where he continued seven years, making every ex- 
ertion to instruct his people in tlie peculiar doctrines of the gospel. 
At length some difference of opinion between himself and the 
church proved the occasion of his dismission. He then removed 
to a place, called the Nine Partners in the state of New York. 
Here he met with no opposition, and his labors were attended with 
no success. His hearers remaining in the greatest stupidity not- 
withstanding all his exertions to awaken their attention to religious 
truth, at the close of seven or eight years he thought it his duty to 
leave them. He went to Manchester in Vermont, where he con- 
tinued about two years, and rejoiced in perceiving, that the precious 
truths of the gospel, which he proclaimed, were rendered by the 
divine Spirit stibservient to the everlasting goocV^ of a number of 
persons. He then had an invitation to settle in Bennington, where 
he spent about sixteen years. Again he was dismissed, but the 
causes of his dismission had no reference to his moral and ministe- 
rial character. Removing to Addison, he v/as the means of organ- 
izing a church, and of bringing to the people of this town the richest 
blessings. While he was on a mission in the northern part of 
Vermont, unlertaken at his ov/n expense, he died at Enoshurgh 
October 20, 1804, aged about sixty one years. Ke rejoiced, that 
his life was to terminate at a distance from his friends, without wit- 
nessing the distressesof his family. The patience, with which he 
endured the pains of his last sickness, and the composure, with which 
he met the king of terrors, excited the greatest astonishment in an 



SYM. 537 

tinbeliever, who was present. While suffering a great variety of evils 
in life he never uttered a complaining word, and when he discovered 
uneasiness or discontent in any of the members of his family he 
inculcated upon them the duty of submission, and reminded them of 
the undeserved blessings, which they were yet permitted to enjoy. 
He possessed a vigorous and comprehensive mind, which was ca- 
pable of investigating the abstrusest subjects. In his preaching he 
dwelt much upon the doctrine of human depravity, the necessity of 
regeneration, faith, repentance, and good works. His zeal for the 
promotion of the Redeemer's kingdom was ardent and constant, and 
in the death of no other man could the churches of Vermont In hu- 
man estimation have sustained a greater loss. After the death of 
Dr. Swift a volume of his sermons was published in 12mo, 1805, 
But they are in an imperfect state, as they were not intended for 
the press, and as the author was not in the habit of fully writing his 
sermons. — Sketch prefixed to his discourses. 

SY-viMES (Thomas), minister of Bradford, Massachusetts, was 
the son of the reverend Zechariah Symmes, the first muiister of 
that town, who died March 27, 1707. His grandfather, the rever- 
end Zechariah Symmes, was for more than forty years tne minister 
of Charlestown. He was born at Bradford February 1, 1678, and 
was graduated at Harvard college in 1698. He was ordained the 
first minister of Boxford December 30, 1702, but was dismissed 
from that town in 1708, and succeeded his father at Bradford in the 
same year. In this town he died October 6, 1725, in the forty 
eighth year of his age. He was a man of strong powers of mind 
and of very considerable learning. Sometimes in his family he 
would read the scriptures from the Hebrew. In early life his prin- 
ciples were not very strict, but he afterwards embraced the doc- 
trines of original sin, grace, and predestination, justification by faith 
through the imputed righteousness of Christ, and the perseverance 
of the saints. He was an animated, popular, faithful, and successful 
preacher. His exertions to do good in private and public were re- 
warded by large accessions to his church of such, as he hoped would 
be saved. He was remarkable for the sanctity of his life, for his 
constancy in secret devotion, for his self examination and his regard 
to days of fasting and prayer. He published monitor to delaying 
sinners ; artillery election sermon, 1720 ; discourse against preju- 
dice ; a sermon at the ordination of Joseph Emerson, 1721 ; joco- 
serious dialogue on singing, 1723 ; the people's interest relating to 
the support of ministers, 1724 ; historical memoirs of the fight at 
Piggwacket May 9, 1725, with a sermon on the fall of captain Love- 
well. After the death ol Mr. Symmes an account of his life was 
published by the I'everend John Brown of Haverhill, to which is 
annexed from his manuscripts his advice to his children and to the 
church.— JSrow.'i'* sermon on his death, and memorative account, 
69 



538 SYM. 

SYMMES (William, D.D.), minister of Andovev, Massachu- 
setts, was graduated at Harvard college in 1750, and from 1755 to 
1758 was a tutor in that seminary. His ordination took place on 
the first of November of this latter year. He died May 3, 1807, 
in the seventy eighth year of his age, and the forty ninth of his 
ministry. To his profession he devoted himself exclusively, and 
he was occupied through life in theological pursuits. His sermons 
were written with great care and in a style remarkably neat and 
correct. He was distinguished for his prudence, hospitable, dig- 
nified in his manners, and pure in his principles and conduct. He 
published election sermon, 1785, and two other occasional dis- 
courses. — Refiertorij^ May 15, 1807. 

TACK AN ASH (John), Indian minister on Martha's Vineyard, 
was ordained colleague with Hiacoomes August 22, 1670, the day, 
on which the first Indian church was gathered on the island. He 
possessed very considerable talents, and was exemplary in his life. 
Allowing himself in few diversions, he studied much, and seemed 
to advance in piety, as he became more acquainted with the truths 
of the gospel. He was the most distinguished of Indian preachers. 
In prayer he was devout and fervent, faithful in his instructions and 
reproofs, strict in the discipline of his church, excluding the immoral 
from the ordinances till they repented. So much was he respected, 
that a number of the English, when deprived of their own minister, 
attended the meeting of Mr. Tackanash and received the Lord's sup- 
per from his hands. All would probably have attended, if they had 
understood the Indian language, in which he preached. He died in 
the peace and hope of the Christian January 22, 1684. His place of 
residence was at Nunpang at the east end of Martha's Vineyard. — 
Mayheiv^s Indian converts, 14—16. 

TAPPAN (David, D.D.), professor of divinity in Harvard col- 
lege, was the son of the reverend Benjamin Tappan of Manchester, 
Massachusetts, and was born April 21, 1752. He was graduated 
at the university of Cambridge in 1771. Alter pursuing the study 
of divinity for \.\\o or three years he commenced preaching, and was 
ordained minister of the third churh in Newbury in April 1774. 
In this place he continued about eighteen years. His successor was 
the reverend Mr. Woods. In June 1792 he was elected professor 
of divinity in Harvard college in the place of Dr. Wigglesworth, 
who had resigned, and after anxious deliberation and the advice of 
an ecclesiasticcd council he was inaugurated December 26, 1792. 
When he was introduced into this office, the students of the univer- 
sity were unconiaionly dissolute. For some time they had received 
no regular instruction in theology, and the tide of opinion began to 
run in the .'channel of infidelity. But the lectures of Dr. Tappan, 
which combined entertainment with information, which were pro- 
found and yet pathetic, elegant in style and conclusive in argument, 
and which canic warm from a pious heart, soon checked the prog- 



TAP. 539 

ressof profanity and dissipation, and put open irreligion to shame. 
It has been thought however, that his usefuhiess to the cause of 
divine truth might have been increased, if he had dwelt upon the dis- 
tinguishing doctrines of the gospel, which he believed, with more 
frequency and with greater perspicuity and fulness, and if in some 
instances he had been less careful to accommodate himself to opin- 
ions, which he disapproved, and to prejudices, which he thought 
pernicious. His remarkable humility, meekness, and modesty, the 
keen sensibility of his nature, and his caution not to offend, lest the 
mind should be shut to the truth, might at times have given a di- 
rection to the benevolent spirit, which animated him, that would not 
have been taken by a man of greater hardihood of temper ; but he 
was always anxious to do good and always interesting and energetic 
in his preaching. After a short sickness he died August 27, 1803, 
aged fifty one years. He was succeeded in the professorship by 
the reverend Dr. Ware. 

Dr. Tappan possessed much activity and vigor of mind, fertility 
of invention, and force of imagination. He had a facility in fixing 
his attention, and in discriminating and arranging his thoughts. His 
readiness of conception and coinmand of language enabled him both 
in speaking and writing to express what he thought and felt with 
propriety, perspicuity, and force. The religious principles, which 
he embraced, were the doctrines of the eternal counsels of Jehovah, 
man's fallen, ruined state, the electing love of God, the atonement 
of Christ, justification by grace, and the efficacy of the divine Spirit 
in renewing sinners and preparing them for glory. The doctrine 
of redemption by a crucified Savior constituted in his view the basis 
of the gospel. In such a light did he regard the proper divinity 
of Jesus Christ, that he declared it to be " the rock of his eternal 
hopes." To benevolence and candor, sincerity in speech, and up- 
rightness in conduct he joined the careful cultivation and practice 
of the personal virtues. He was superior to all fretful and anxious 
thoughts about his temporal afllurs, and to all vanity of external 
appearance. When tried by the ignorance and stupidity, or by the 
perverseness and injustice of men, he wiis calm and collected. P'or 
the conduct of those, who had treated liim with the most painful 
unkindness, he invented the most charitable excuses, and even 
sought opportunities of doing them good. His religion as well as 
his nature disposed him to sympathy, tenderness, and love. Kind 
affections lighted up his countenance, gave a glow to his conversa- 
tion, and cheerfulness to his active benevolence. When arrested 
by his last sickness, and warned of his approaching dissolution, he 
was not discomposed. With many expressions of humility and 
self abasement intermingled, he declared his hope in the infinite 
mercy of God through the atonement of Christ. When his wife 
expressed some of the feelings, which were excited by tlit- thought 
of parting with him, he said, " if God is glorified, I am made forever. 



540 TAW. 

Can't you lay hold of that ? Can't you lay hold of that :" To hib 
sons he said, " 1 charge you to love God supremely, and to love your 
neighbor as yourselves ; for wituout these there is no true religion." 
He liad such a sense of the evil oi sin and of his oAvn ill desert that 
notliing could afford him consolation, but the all sufficient grace of 
the Redeemer. In Jesus Christ his soul found rest. 

Dr. Tappan published two discourses, preached on tlie sabbath 
after his ordination, 1774; a discourse on the character acd bes^ 
exercises of unrcgcnerate suiners, 1782 ; a sermon on the fast, 
1783 ; on the peace, 1783 ; on the death of Moses Parsons, 1784 ; 
two friendly letters to Philalethes, 1785 ; a sermon at the ordina- 
tion of J. Dickinson, 1789; address to the students of Andover 
academy, 179 1 ; sermon at the election, 1792 ; before an association 
at Portsmouth, 1792; farewell sermon at Newlnuy ; on the fast, 
1793 ; at the ordination of J. T. K-irkland ; a discourse to graduates ; 
address to students at Andover ; discourse on eight persons drown- 
ed in the Merrimack; to the class, which entered college, 1794; 
on the thanksgiving, 1795 ; on the death of J. Russell, a student ; to 
the class, which entered college, 1796 ; sermon before the conven- 
tion, 1797 ; on the fast, 1798 ; at the ordin..tion of James Kendall ; 
on the death of Washington ; at the ordination of N. H. Fletcher, 
1800 ; on the death of lieutenant governor Phillips ; at the installa- 
tion of H. Packard, 1802 ; on the death of Dr. Hitchcock ; on the 
death of Mary Dana, 1803. Since the death of Dr. Tappan two 
volumes have been published from his manuscripts, the one con- 
sisting of sermons on important subjects, and the other entitled, 
lectures on Jewish antiquities, 8vo, 1807. — Panoplist, i. 1 — 5, 45— 
51, 137 — 142, 185 — 193 ; Monthly an(/iologi/,n. 120 — 124 ; Holmes' 
and KendalVs sermons on his death ; Columbian centinely September 
14, 1803. 

TAWANQUATUCK, the first Indian sachem, who was con- 
verted to Christianity on Martha's Vineyard, lived on that island, 
when the EngUsh first settled there in 1642 His conversion 
through the labors of Mr. Mayhew was a circumstance very irri- 
tating to his copper colored brethren, who were indignant, that he 
should turn away from the religion of their fathers. One night, 
after an assembly of the Indians, as Tawancjuatuck lay asleep upon 
a mat by a little fire, an Indian approached him and let fly a broad 
headed arrow, intending to drench it in his heart's blood ; but it 
struck his eyebrow, and being turned in its direction by the solid 
bone, glanced and slit his nose troin the top to the bottom. The next 
morning Mr. Mayhew visited the sagamore, and found him praising 
God for his great deliverance. He afterwards became a Christian 
m-sgistrate to his people, and discharged faithfully the trust reposed 
in him as long as he lived. He died about the year 1670. — JMaV' 
hc'wi's JndiaK coJivcrts^ 80 — 82 ; Whiijicld '« light appearing^ tfc. 



TAY. 541 

TAYLOR (William), remarkable for longevity, died in Pitt 
county, North Carolina, in October 1794, aged one hundred and 
fourteen years. He was a native of Virginia. On the morning of 
his death he had set out to walk two miles. — Gazette U. 6'. Koverti' 
ber 15, 1794. 

TENNENT (John), a physician of Virginia, published at Wil* 
liamsburg in 1736 an essay on the pleurisy, which was reprinted at 
Newyork in 1743. In this work he first brought into view the vir- 
tues of the Seneka snake root. The immediate cause of a pleurisy 
or peripneumony, in his opinion, is a viscidity of blood of the same 
nature with that produced by the venom ol the rattle snake ; and 
as the raitle snake root had been found a cure for the bite of the 
snake, he pro'osed it as a cure for the pleurisy. — Ramsay's review 
of medicine, 36 ; Miller., i, 318. 

TENNENT (William), a useful scholar and minister of a 
presbyterian church at Nesiiaminy, Pennsylvania, received episco- 
pal ordination in Ireland, and emitjrated to this country in the year 
1718, with four sons, Gilbert, William, John, and Charles. Not 
long after his arrival in America he renounced his connexion with 
the episcopal church, and was admitted into the synod of Philadel- 
phia. He spent a short time in the state of New York, and then in 
1721 or 1722 removed to Bensalem in Pennsylvania. Here he re- 
mained not more than four or five years ; for in 1726 he settled at 
Neshaminy, about twenty miles north of tne city of Philadelphia, 
where he became pastor of a small presbyterian congregation. 
Here he established a seminary of learning, which soon received 
the name of the log college, by which it was long known. But this 
institution, though humble in name, was the nursery, in which many 
ministers of the gospel were trained up for eminent usefulnesSt 
Among these were his four sons, who were educated under his sole 
instruction, and Messrs. Rowland, Campbell, Lawrence, Beatty, 
Robinson, and Samuel Blair. He never had an assistant in his 
academy, excepting, for a short time, when his eldest son Gilbert 
acted in that capacity, while pursuing his theological studies. He 
bad the. happiness to see all his sons employed in the service of the 
church for several years before his death. As the calls for ministe- 
rial service were urgent he sent them out, as soon as they were 
qualified for the work. Of these John died in early life, and the 
others lived to advanced age, and were among the most useful and 
respectable ministers of their time. Mr. Tennent died and was 
buried at Nestiaminy about the year 1743. He was eminent as a 
classical scholar ; but his attainments in science, it is thought, were 
not so great. He w-s a man of great integrity, simplicity, indus- 
try, and piety ; and to his labors and benevolent zeal the Ainericau 
churches are in no small degree indebted. — Miller, W. 341 ; Pano- 
plist, ii. 2 — 4. 



542 TEN. 

TENNENT (Gilbert), minister of Philadelphia, was the son of 
the preceding, and was born in Ireland February 5, 1703. He was 
brought to this country by his father, by whom he was educated. 
At the age of fourteen he began to be anxious for the salvation of 
his soul ; he was often in great agony of mind ; but at length the 
character of Jesus Christ as the Savior of sinners filled him with 
peace. Still he was diffident of his Christian character, and in con- 
sequence pursued the study of physic for a year, but afterwards 
devoted himself to theology, and began to preach in 1725. In the 
autumn of 1726 he was ordained minister of New Brunswick in 
New Jersey. For some time he was the delight of the pious, and 
was honored by those, who were destitute of religion. But when 
God began to bless his faithful labors to the awaktfting of secure 
sinners and to their conversion from darkness unto light, he pres- 
ently lost the good opinion of false professors ; his name was loaded 
with reproaches, and the grossest immoralities were attributed to 
him. But he bore all with patience. Though he had sensibility to 
character as well as other men, yet he was willing to encounter dis- 
grace, rather than neglect preaching the truth, however offensive to 
the sinful, whom he wished to reclaim. Towards the close of the 
year 1740 and in the beginning of the year 1741 he made a tour 
in New England at the importunate request of Mr. Whiiefield. 
He succeeded the latter in Boston, and an astonishing efficacy ac- 
companied his labors. Visiting various parts of New England, he 
was every where remarkably useful. In this tour the dress, in 
which he commonly entered the pulpit, was a great coat, girt about 
him with a leathern girdle, while his natural hair was left undressed. 
His large stature and grave aspect added a dignity to the simplicity 
or rather rusticity of his appearance. In 1743 he established a new 
presbyteri.in church in Philadelphia out of those, who were denom- 
inated the followers and converts of Mr. Whitefi;eld. In 1753, at 
the request of the trustees of New Jersey college, he went to Eng- 
land to solicit benefactions for that seminary. After a life of great 
usefulness he died in much peace about the year 1764 or 1765. 
He was succeeded by the reverend Dr. Sproat. For more than 
forty years he had enjoyed a habitual, unshaken assurance of his in- 
terest in redeeming love. As a preacher, he was in his vigorous 
days equalled by but few. His reasoning powers were strong ; his 
language forcible and often sublime ; and his manner of address 
warm and earnest. His eloquence however was rather bold and 
awful, than soft and persuasive. With admirable dexterity he ex- 
posed the false hope of the hypocrite, and searched the torrupt 
heart to the bottom. He was most pungent in his addresses to the 
conscience. When he wished to alarm the sinner, he could repre- 
sent in the most awful manner the terrors of the Lord. He was 
bold, courageous, ardent, and independent. A number of presbyte- 
vians both anions: the clerin- and laitv, who were considered as mere 



TEN. 543 

formalists in religion, violently opposed Mr. Whitefield and Mr. 
Tennent. The consequence was, that in a short time the synod of 
Philadelphia was split into two parts, each of which formed a sepa- 
rate synod, and for several years treated each other with great cen- 
soriousness. At length Mr. Tennent, who had been principally 
concerned in promoting the separation, became desirous of restoring 
harmony, and labored with great industry for this purpose. His 
longest and most elaborate publication, entitled the peace of Jeru- 
salem, was upon this subject. The synods were happily united in 
1758. The whole transaction illustrates the character of Mr. Ten- 
nent, in whom an ardent love to what he conceived to b© truth and 
duty always triuinphed over all considerations of a personal kind. 
As an oflicer in the church he earnestly endeavored to maintain strict 
discipline. But above other things the purity of the ministry was 
his care. He zealously urged every scriptural method, by which 
earthly minded men might be kept from entering the saci'ed office, 
and men of piety and zeal as well as learning might be introduced. 
Abhorring all artifice and dissimulation, there was in his conversa- 
tion an undisguised honesty. He was tender, kind, compassionate, 
the friend of the good, the patron of those, who were injured or 
were in distress. He published the righteousness of the scribes 
and Pharisees considered ; a sermon oh justification ; remarks upon 
a protestation, presented to the synod of Philadelphia, 1741 ; the 
examiner examined, or Gilbert Tennent harmonious, in answer 
to Mr. Hancock's pamphlet, entitled, the examiner, or Gilbert 
against Tennent ; three sermons on holding fast the truth against 
the Moravians ; a sermon at the oixlination of Charles Beatty at 
Neshaminy, 1743 ; a sermon on the victory of the British arms 
in the Mediterranean ; two sermons preached at Philadelphia ; 
an account of the revival of religion in Pennsylvania and other 
parts in Prince's Christian history, 1744 ; a sermon on the success 
of the expedition against Louisbourg ; discourses on several sub- 
jects, on the nature of justification, on the law, and the necessity of 
good works vindicated, 12mo, 1745 ; a sermon on the lawfulness 
of defensive war, 1747 ; a sermon on the consistency of defensive 
war with true Christianity ; defensive war defended ; a fast sermon ; 
a sermon before the sacramental solemnity, 1748; essay on the 
peace of Jerusalem; a thanksgiving sermon; sermon on the dis- 
plays of divine justice in the propitiatory sacrifice of Christ, 1749 ; 
sermons on important subjects, adapted to the present state of the 
British nation, 8vo, 175 8 ; a sermon at the opening of the presbyte- 

rianchu4'ch Assembly's miss. 7nag. i. 238 — 248 ; ii. 46 ; Mass. miss. 

mag. iv. 351 — 365, 401-«-405 ; Chauncy's thoughts, 37, 40, 127, 147, 
249 ; Christian hist. 1744,127,133,2 85 — 298,314,384-591, 411. 
TENNENT (William), minister of Freehold, New Jersey, 
was the brother of the preceding, and was born in Ireland June 3, 
1705. He arrived in America, when in the fourteenth vear of his 



$44 TEN. 

age. Having resolved to devote himself to the ministry of the gos« 
pel his intense application to the study of theology under the care 
of his brother at New Brunswick so impaired his health, as to bring 
on a decline. He became more and more emaciated, till little hope 
of life was left. At length he fainted and apparently expired. The 
neighborhood were invited to attend his funeral on the next day. In 
the evening his physician, a young gentleman, who was his particu- 
lar friend, returned to the town, and was afflicted beyond measure 
at the nev/s of his death. Being told, that when the body was laid 
out a little tremor of the flesh under the arm had been perceived, 
he encouraged the hope, that the powers of life had not yet depart- 
,ed. On examining the body he affirmed that he felt an unusual 
■warmth, and had it restored to a warm bed, and the funeral delayed. 
All probable means were used to restore life, but the tiiird day ar- 
rived, and the unintermitted exertions of the doctor had as yet been 
in vain. It was determined by the brother, that the funeral should 
now take place ; but the physician requested a delay of one hour, 
then of half an hour, and finally of a quarter of an hour. As this 
last period was near expired, while he was endeavoring to soften the 
tongue, which he had discovered to be much swollen, by putting 
some ointment upon it with a feather, the body opened its eyes, 
gave a dreadful groan, and sunk again into apparent death. The ef- 
forts were now renewed, and in a few hours Mr. Tenncnt was re- 
stored to life. His recovery however was very slow ; all forioer 
ideas were for some time blotted out of his mind ; and it was a 
year before he was perfectly restored. To his friends he repeated- 
ly stated, that after he had apparently expired he found himself in 
heaven, where he beheld a glory, which he could not describe, and 
heard songs of praise before this glory, which were unutterable. 
He was about to join the throng, when one of the heavenly messen- 
gers said to him, " you must return to the earth." At this instant 
he groaned, and opened his eyes upon this world. For three years 
afterwards the sounds, which he had heard, were not out of his 
ears, and earthly things were in his sight as vanity and nothing. In' 
October 1733 he was ordained at Freehold, as the successor of his 
brother, the reverend John Tennent. It was not long before his in- 
attention to worldly concerns brought him into debt. In his embar- 
rassment a friend from New York told him, that the only remedy 
was to get a wife. " I do not know how to go about il," was the an- 
swer. " Then I will undertake the business," said his friend ; " I 
have a sister in law in the city, a prudent and pious widow." The 
next evening found Mr. Tennent in New York, and the day after he 
was introduced to Mrs. Noble. Being pleased with her appearance, 
when he was left alone with her he abruptly told her, that he sup- 
posed she knew his errand, that neither- his time nor inclination 
would suffer him to use much ceremony, arid that if she pleased he 
would attend his charfrc on the next saW.^ath, ahd return on Monday 



TEN. 545 

and be married. "With some hesitation the lady consented ; and 
she proved an invaluable treasure to him. About the year 1744, 
when the faithful preaching of Mr. Tennent and Mr. John Row- 
land was the means of advancing in a very remarkable degree the 
cause of religion in New Jersey, the indignation and malice of those, 
who loved darkness rather than light, and who could not quietly 
submit to have their false security shaken, was excited against these 
servants of God. There was at this time prowling through the 
country a noted man named Tom Bell. One evening he arrived at 
a tavern in Princeton, dressed in a parson's frock, and was immedi- 
ately accosted as the reverend Mr. Rowland, whom he much re- 
sembled. This mistake was sufficient for him. The next day he 
went to a congregation in the county of Hunterdon, and declaring 
himself to be Mr. Rowland, was invited to preach on the sabbath. 
As he was riding to church in the family waggon accompanied by 
his host on an elegant horse, he discovered when he was near the 
church that he had left his notes behind, and proposed to ride back 
for them on the fine horse. The proposal was agreed to, and Bell 
after returning to the house and rifling the desk made ofT with the 
horse. Mr. Rowland was soon indicted for the robbery, but it hap- 
pened that on the very day, in which the robbery was committed, 
he was in Pennsylvania or Maryland, and this circumstance being 
proved by the testimony of Mr. Tennent and two other gentlemen, 
who accompanied him, the jury brought in a verdict of not guilty. 
Mr. Rowland could not again be brought before the court ; but the 
witnesses were indicted for wilful and corrupt perjury. The 
evidence was very strong against them, for many had seen the sup- 
posed Mr. Rowland on the elegant horse. Mr. Tennent employed 
Mr. John Coxe, an eminent lawyer, to conduct his defence. He 
went to Trenton on the day appointed, and there found Mr. Smith 
of New York, one of the ablest lawyers in America, and of a religious 
character, who had voluntarily attended to aid in his defence. He 
found also at Trenton his brother Gilbert from Philadelphia with 
' Mr. Kinsey, one of the first counsellors in the city. Mr. Tennent 
was asked vs^ho were his witnesses ; he replied, that he had none, 
as the persons, who accompanied him, were also indicted. He 
was pressed to delay the trial, as he would most certainly be 
convicted ; but he insisted, that it should proceed, as he trusted 
in God to vindicate his innocence. Mr. Coxe was charging Mr. 
Tennent with acting the part of an enthusiast, when the bell sum- 
moned them to court. The lattef had not walked far in the 
street before he was accosted by a man and his wife, who asked 
him if his name was not Tennent. The man said, that he lived 
in a certain place in Pennsylvania or Maryland ; that Mr. Ten- 
nent and Mr. Rowland had lodged at his house, or at a house 
where he and his wife had been servants, at a particular time, and 
on the next day preached ; that some nights before he left home, 
70 



546- TEN. 

he and his wife both dreamed repeatedly, that Mr. Tennent was in 
distress at Trenton, and they only could relieve him ; and that they 
in consequence had come to that town, and wished to know what 
they had to do. Mr. Tennent led them to the court house, and 
their testimony induced the jury to bring in a verdict of not guilty 
to the astonishment of his enemies. After a life of great usefulness, 
Mr. Tennent died at Freehold March 8, 1777, aged seventy one 
years. He was well read in divinity, and professed himself a mod- 
erate Calvinist. The doctrines of man's depravity, the atonement 
of Christ, the necessity of the all powerful influence of the Holy 
Spirit to renew the heart, in consistence with the free agency of 
the sinner, were among the leading articles of his faith. With his 
friends he was at all times cheerful and pleasant. He once dined 
in company with governor Livingston and Mr. Whitefieid, when 
the latter expressed the consolation he found in believing amidst the 
fatigues of the day that his work would soon be done, and that he 
should depart and be with Christ. He appealed to Mr. Tennent, 
whether that was not his comfort. Mr. Tennent replied, " what 
do you think I should say, if I was to send my man Tom into the 
field to plough, and at noon should find him lounging under a tree, 
complaining of the heat, and of his difficult work, and begging to be 
discharged of his hard service ? What should I say ? Why, that 
he was an idle, lazy fellow, and that it was his business to do the 
work, that I had appointed him." He was the friend of the poor. 
The public lost in him a firm assertor of the civil and religious 
rights of his country. Few men have ever been more holy in life, 
more submissive to the will of God under heavy afflictions, or more, 
peaceful in death. An accoimt, which he wrote of the revival of 
religion in Freehold and other places, is published in Prince's 

Christian history. 4sscmb[y's miss. mag. ii. 97 — 103, 146 — 166, 

202 — 207, 333 — 335 ; Pa7io/ilist, ii, 1 — 5, 49 — 67, 97 — 100 ; Mas- 
sachuseito- miss. mag. iv. 1, 41, 81, 121 ; Christian history for 1744, 
298 — 310. 

TENNESSEE, one of the United States of America, was for- 
merly a part of Carolina, and in 1754 contained not more than fifty 
families, who were either destroyed or driven away by the Indians 
before the close of the following year. In 1765 the settlement of 
this territory again commenced, and the ravages of the Indians af- 
terwards occasioned much suffering. This country was ceded to 
the United States in 1789, and in 1790 congress established a terri- 
torial government. It was erected into a separate state in 1796, and 
admitted into the union. By the constitution of this state, which 
was adopted February 6, 1796, a general assembly is established, 
consisting of a senate and house of representatives, the members of 
which are chosen for two years. The governor is chosen by the 
people for two years, and is eligible only for six years out of eight-- 
-^Morsc^s gcosr. ; Holmes^ ajinals^ ii. 494. 



THA. 547 

•THACHER (Thomas), first minister of the old south church in 
•Boston, was born in England May 1, 1620, and arrived in this coun- 
try in June 1635. He pursued his studies under the direction of 
JMr. Chauncy, afterwards president of the college. On the second 
of January 1644 he was ordained minister of Weymouth, where he 
remained more than twenty years ; but after the death of his first 
wife in 1664 a number of circumstances induced him to remove to 
Boston. When a new church was formed out of the first by per- 
sons, displeased with the settlement of Mr. Davenport, Mr. Thach- 
er was installed its pastor February 16, 1670. He died October 15, 
1678, aged fifty eight years. His colleague, Mr. Willard, surviv- 
ed him. Being well skilled in the Hebrew, Mr. Thacher composed 
a lexicon of the principal words in that language. President Stiles 
speaks of hi«i as the best Arabic scholar in the country. As a 
•preacher he was very popular, being remarkably fervent and 
copious in prayer. He was zealous against the quakers, for he be- 
-lieved that their doctrines subverted the gospel, and led men into 
the pit of darkness under the pretence of giving them light. Be- 
sides being an excellent minister and Christian, he was also a phy- 
sician. He published a fast sermon, 1674 ; a brief rule to guide 
the common people in the small pox and measles, \677 .-—Magna' 
im, iii. 148—153; Collect, hist, soc.yin. 3.7 S ; Emsrsofi's sermon cni 
the death of Dr. Thacher. 

THACHER (Peter), first minister of Milton, wastlie son ofthe 
preceding, and was born at Salem in 1651. After he was graduated 
at Harvard college in 1671, he was chosen a tutor and fellow. In 
a few years he went to England, where he became acquainted 
with a number of eminent divines. On his return he was or- 
dained at Milton June 1, 1681. He died December 17, 1727, in 
the seventy seventh year of his age. His successor was Mr. John 
Taylor. In his natural temper there was a great deal of vivacity, 
which gave an interest to his conversation and to his public perfonTi- 
ances. While he was cheerful and affable, he was eminent for 
sanctity and benevolence. Besides the ordinary labors of the Lord's 
day he preached a monthly lecture, and encouraged the private 
meetings of. his neighbors for religioiK; purposes. He sometimes 
preached to a society of young men. Having studied the Indian 
language he also at a monthly lecture imparted to the Indians of a 
neighboring village the gospel of salvation. Being a physician, his 
benevolence prompted him to expend a great part of his yearly sal- 
ary in the purchase of medicines and other necessaries for the sick 
and indigent. His death was somewhat sudden. The last words, 
which he uttered, were, " I am going to Christ in glory." He pub- 
lished unbelief detected and condemned, to which is added the treas- 
ures of the fathers inheritable by their posterity, 1708 ; election 
^ sermon, 1711 ; Christ's forgiveness a pattern, 1712 ; a^crmoncn 



546 THA. 

the death of Samuel Man, 1719 ; a divine riddle, he that is weak 
is strong, 1723 ; the perpetual covenant, a sermon to a society of 
young men.'— Mather's sermon on his death ; Collect, hist. sac. viii. 
277 ; ix. 195 ; Emcrso7i*s sermo?i on Dr. Thacher ; JV. E. weekly 
jqurnal, December 25, 1727. 

TH A.CHER (Peter), minister in Boston, was born in that town 
and was graduated at Harvard college in 1696. While a member 
of this institution it pleased a sovereign God to give him a deep 
sense of his sin, and at length to inspire him with a cheerful faith 
in the Savior of the lost. Alter living for some time at Hatfield as 
a schoolmaster, he was settled in the ministry at Weymouth, where 
he remained eleven or twelve years. He was installed pastor of 
tbe new north church in Boston, as colleague with Mr. Webb, Jan- 
uary 28, 1723. In consequence of some divisions in the society, 
and some irregularity in the measures, which were adopted to ob- 
tain Mr, Thacher, the association retused to assist in his settlement. 
He died February 26, 1739, in the sixty second year of his age. 
He possessed a strong and masterly genius. Mr. Cooper calls him 
the evangelical reasoner. While he was remarkably skilled in 
theology, his judgment was penetrating, his style manly, and his 
reasoning close and accurate. He was always zealous in defending 
the Calvinistic doctrines, which after indefatigable study and earnest 
prayer he embraced. A natural modesty adorned his rich endow- 
ments. He exhibited great humbleness of mind without meanness 
pf spirit. As a preacher he was pathetic, for he believed and felt 
what he delivered. In the gift of prayer he was almost unequalled. 
During his last sickness he was cheerful, for he hoped in the mercy 
of God through the Redeemer. He published the election sermon, 
1726, and a sermon on the death of Mrs. Gee — Caiman's, Coo/ier'sy 
and Webb's serm. on his death ; Eliot's dedicat. sermon. 

THACHER (Peter), minister of Middleborough, Massachu- 
setts, was the son of the reverend Mr. Thacher of Milton, and was 
born October 6, 1688. He was graduated at Harvard college in 
1706. After preaching two years in Middleborough, he was or- 
dained November 2, \7(^. His death took place April 22, 1744. 
He was succeeded by Mr. Conant. Receiving from his ancestors a 
large collection of puritan authors, Mr. Thacher imbibed the spirit 
of these writings. He was very distinguished for the sanctity of 
his life. At one period his faithful exertions as a minister were the 
means of adding near two hundred members to his church in less 
than three years. The doctrines, which he preached, were the di- 
vine trinity, the total depravity of man, the sovereign grace of God 
in choosing any to salvation, and in sending his Son to purchase and 
his Spirit to apply it, and justification through the righteousness of 
Christ. He was anxious to render men holy and benevolent. He 
pwblished an account of the revival of religion in Middleborough 



THA. 549 

iu the Christian history, where is a minute account of his life by- 
Mr. Prince.— Oimfm;* history for 1743, 171,412 ; for 1744, 77—. 
99; Barker^s century sermon ; Collect, hist. soc. in. 149. 

THACHER (Oxenbkidge), a representative of Boston m the 
general court, was the son of Oxenbridge Thacher, esquire, 
•who died in 1772 in the ninety third year of his age, and grandson 
of the reverend Peter Thacher of Miiton. He was graduated at 
Hai'vard college in 1738 and died July 8, 1765, aged forty five years. 
He was a learned man and good writer. He published a pamphlet 
on the gold coin, 1760, and the sentiments of a British American, 
occasioned by the act to lay certain duties in the British colonies 
and plantations, 1764. — Collect, hist. soc. viii. 277 ; Emerson's scr' 
mon on Dr. Thacher. 

THACHER (Peteb, d. d.), minister in Boston, was the son of 
the preceding, and was born in Milton March 21, 1752. He gave 
early indications of a serious mind, preferring books of piety and 
the conversation of persons older than himself to the diversions 
of the childish age. He was graduated at Harvard college in 1769, 
when but seventeen years of age. He always thought, that his ed- 
ucation was too much hurried. On the nineteenth of September 
1770 he was ordained the minister of Maiden. As a preacher he 
was admired. His charming voice, his oratorical powers, his fluen- 
cy in prayer, and the pathos of his expression Avere applauded by 
the serious and intelligent, and rendered him uncommonly accepta- 
ble to the multitude. No young man preached to such crowded as- 
semblies. Mr. Whitefield in his prayers called him the young E- 
lijah. Being a strict Calvinist in his sentiments, he contended zeal- 
ously for the faith of his fathers. When the controversy began with 
Great Britain, he exerted himself in the pulpit, in conversation, and 
in other ways to support the rights of his country. He was a dele- 
gate from Maiden to the convention, which formed the constitution 
of Massachusetts in 1780. Being democratic in his sentiments he 
contended, that there should be no governor, and when a decision 
was made contrary to his wishes he still made particular objections 
to the title of excellency, which was giverf to the chief magistrate. 
But afterwards, as he became better acquainted with the policy of 
government, he was warmly attached to those parts of the conslitu= 
tion, which he had once disapproved. He was installed minister of 
the church in Brattle street, Boston, as successor of Dr. Cooper, 
January 12, 1785 ; and in this vineyard of the Lord he continued 
till his death. Being afilicted with a pulmonary complaint, his 
physicians recommended the milder air of a more southern climate. 
He accordingly sailed for Savannah, where he died December 16, 
1802 in the fifty first year of his age, He was succeeded by the 
reverend Mr. Buckminster. Just before he set sail from Boston 
he was visited by Dr. Stillman, vo whom he expressed his belief, 
that he should not recover, and said with peculiar energy, " the 
doctrines I haA'e preached are now my only comfort. IVly hope? 



550 THO. 

are built on the atonement and righteousness of Christ." The last 
words, which he uttered, were " Jesus Christ, my Savior." 

Dr. Thacher was a member of the board of commissioners foi- 
•propagating tlic gospel among the Indians in North America, of 
the historical society of JNIassachusetts, of several charitable and 
humane societies, and of the American academy of arts and sci- 
ences. As a preacher his discourses were not elaborate, but 
they were recommended by vivacity of thought and by a graceful 
delivery. During his residence in Boston he relaxed somewhat 
from his former strictness and became more liberal in his senti- 
ments. In the chamber of sickiTess he was remarkably acceptable. 
By the couch of those, who were dismayed by tlic terrors of death, 
he administered consolation by dwelling upon the mercy of that 
Savior, who died to redeem a guilty and suffering world. To 
the distressed and afflicted his voice was that of an angel of com- 
fort. In prayer he was uncommonly eloquent, uttering in impres- 
sive and pathetic language the devout feelings of his own heart, 
and exciting deep emotions in the hearts of his hearers. He pub- 
lished an oration against standing armies, delivered March 5, 1776 ; 
a sermon on the death of Andrew Eliot, 1778 ; three sern\ons in 
proof of the eternity of future punishment, 1782 ; observations on 
the state of the clergy in New England, with strictures upon the 
power of dismissing them, usurped by soxne churches, 1783; a 
a reply to strictures upon the preceding ; a sermon on the 
death of Joshua Paine ; at the ordination of Elijah Kellogg, 
1788 ; memoirs of Dr. Boylston, published in Massachusetts 
magazine, 1789 ; a sermon at the ordination of William F. 
Rowland, 1790 ; on the death of governor Bowdoin, 1791 ; ser- 
rnon at the artillery election ; on the death of governor Hancock, 
1793 ; on the death of Samuel Stillnian, junior ; at the ordination 
of his son, Thomas Cushing Thacher, 1794 ; a sermon before the 
Massachusetts congregational cliaritable society, 1795 ; on the 
/leath of Thomas Russeil ; on the death of Nathaniel Gorham, 
1796 ; a sermon before a society of freemasons, 1797 j at the in- 
terment of Dr. Clarke ; on the death of Rebecca Gill, 1798 ; on 
the clcath of governor Sumner ; a sermon to the society in Brattle 
street on the completion of a century from its establishment, 1799 ; 
a discourse on the death of Washington, 1800. — Ema-sori's sermon 
on his death ; Collect, hist. soc. viii. 277 — 284 ; Sdllman's sermons,, 
256 ; Polyanthos^ iii. 2 — <Vi ; Columbian centinel, Januarxj I, 1803. 

THOMAS (John), an Indian remarkable for longevity, died at 
Natick, Massachusetts, in 1727, aged one hundred and ten years. 
He was among, the first of the praying Indians. He joined the 
church, when it was first gathered at Natick by Mr. Eliot, and was 
exemplary through life. — Collect, hist. soc. v. 205. 

THOMAS (John), a m.»jor general in the American army, served 
in the wars against the French and Indians with reputation. In 
177 :^ he was appf)inted by congress a brigadier genera!, and during 



THO. SS'B 

the 'siege of Boston he commanded a division of the provincial 
troops at Roxbury. In the following year he was appointed major 
general, and after the death of Montgomery was entrusted with the 
command in Canada. He joined the army before Quebec on the 
first of May, but soon found it necessary to raise the siege and com- 
mence his retreat. He died of the small pox at Chamblee May 
30, 1776. On his death the command devolved for a few days on 
Arnold, and then on general Sullivan. He was a man of sound 
judgment and fixed courage, who v/as beloved by his soldiers and 
amiable in the i*elations of private life. — Marshall., ii. 348, 354 — 
358 ; Gordon., ii, 251 — 254 ; Collect, hist. socn. 66; Warren^ i. 
344, 345 ; Boston Gazette, June 24, 1776. 

THOMPSON (William), first minister of Braintree, Massa- 
chusetts, v/as a native of England, and was first settled in Lanca- 
shire. After his arrival in this country, when a church was gathered 
at mount Wollaston, or Braintree, he was chosen its pastor, and was 
installed September 24, 1639. Mr. Flynt was settled as his 
colleague March 17, 1640. In the year 1642 Mr. Thompson 
accompanied two other ministers to Virginia in order to carry the 
gospel to the ignorant, but was soon obliged to leave that colony for. 
his nonconformity to the episcopalian worship. He died at Brain- 
tree December 10, 1666, aged sixty eight years. — Morton, 192, 193 ;• 
Winthro/i, 188, 256, 271 ; Hancock's ce?itury sermon; Holmes' 
annals, i. 311 ; Magna lia, iii. 119 — 120 ; Collect, hist. sac. ix. 191 ; 
Johnson, 161, 162. 

TORREY (Samuel), minister of Weymouth, Massachusetts, 
died April 21, 1707, aged about seventy six years. He had been in 
the ministry fifty years, and was an able and faithful preacher^ He 
published the election sermon in the years 1674, 1683, and 1695. — » 
Collect, hist, soc ix. 105; Christian history,!. 9S. 

TRACY (Uriah), an eminent statesman, was graduated at 
Yale college in 1778, and afterwards directing his attention to the 
law he soon rose to eminence in that profession. The last fourteen 
years of his life were devoted to the service of his country in the 
national councils, where he was admired by his friends, and respected 
by his opponents. After having been a member of the house of 
representatives for some time he Avas chosen a senator in the 
place of Mr. Hillhouse, who resigned, in October 1796, and he 
continvied in this high station till his death. In the beginning of 
March 1807, while in a feeble state of health, he exposed himself by 
attending the funeral of Mr. Baldwin, his former fellow student, and 
late colleague in the senate. From this period he declined ; and 
he died at Washington July 19, 1807, in the fifty fourth year of 
his age. His devotion to the public service precluded him from 
that attention to his private interests, which claim the principal re- 
gard of most men. His speeches displayed a vigorous and well 
informed mind. In wit and humor he was unrivalled, m deliverv 



552 TRE. 

graceful, r.nc] lucid in argument. He was sometimes Severe ; but 
the ardor of debate, the rapidity of his ideas, and the impetuosity of 
his eloquence constituted an apology- He was an instructive and 
agreeable companion. While his observations were frequently 
profound, his thoughts seemed to come without premeditation, and 
they alarmed no one's pride. His humor was easy and -natural. 
Like the lightning of a summer evening, which flashes without 
thunder, it would show the object without ■wounding tiie person. 
As his temper was uniformly kind, he never wantonly attacked any 
one. For the last six years of his life, Mr. Tracy scarcely for a 
moment knew the perfect cheerfulness of health. The following is 
an extract from a letter, which he wrote a short time before his 
death. " Infinite power is the same here, and infinite goodness the 
same, that they are any where and every where else ; why then 
should I prefer location, in which to draw my last breath ? Place 
is nothing, and circumstances nothing ; eternity is all to man. 
This eternity is the property of God himself, and his goodness, in- 
finite and unbounded as it is, should fix the steady eye of faith and 
regulate thatof i'eason,and certainly silence every complaint." — Lit- 
erary ?nag. viii. 40 ; Marshall, v. 520, 52 1 ; Amer. reg. ii. 79 — 81. 

TREAT (Robert), governor of Connecticut, was the son, it is 
believed, of Mr. Robert Treat, one of the settlers of Milford in 
1639. He was chosen one of the magistrates in 1673. After Phil- 
ip's war commenced, he was sent to Westfield at the head of the 
C'onnccticut troops, and when the enemy attacked Springfield, he 
marched to its relief, and drove them from the town. He also at- 
tacked the Indians in their assault upon Hadley on the nineteenth of 
October and put them completely to flight. In 1676 he was chosen 
deputy governor, cind in 1683 govcnor, to which office he was an- 
nually elected for fifteen years. From 1698_to 1708 lie was again 
deputy governor. He died July 12, 1710, in the eighty ninth year 
of his age. His character was very respectable, and he had render- 
ed the most important services to his country. As a military offi- 
cer he united firmness and courage with caution and prudence. He 
was venerated and beloved by the inhabitants of Milford, where he 
resided. — Trumbuir,s Connecticut, i. 340, 350 — 363, 455. 

TREx\T (Samuel), first minister of Eastham, Massachusetts, 
was the son of the prececlint;-, and was graduated at Harvard col- 
lege in 1669. He was ordained in 1672, a church having been es- 
tablished for more than twenty years. Soon after his settlement he 
studied the Indian language, and devoted to the Indians in his neigh- 
borhood much of his time and attention. Through his zeal and 
labors many of the savages were brought into a state of civilization 
and order, and not a few of them were converted to the Christian 
faith. In 1693 he wrote a letter to Dr. Increiisc Mather, in wiiich 
be states, that there were within the limits of Eastham five hundred 
adult Indians, to Avhom he had for many years imparted the gospel 



TRU. 553 

in their own language. He had under him four Indian teachers, 
wiio read in separate villages on every sabbath, excepting on every 
fourth vviien he himself preached, the sermons, which he wrote for 
them. He procured schoohnasters and persuaded the Indians to 
choose from among themselves six magistrates, who held regular 
courts. Jvlr. Treat, after having passed near half a century in the 
most benevolent exertions as a minister of the gospel, died March 
18, 1717, in the sixty ninth year of his age. He was a consis- 
tent and strict Calvinist, who zealously proclaimed those truths, 
which are calculated to alarm and humble the sinner ; and it pleased 
God at different times to accompany his labors with a divine bles- 
sing. Some of his friends however thought, that there was too 
much of terror in his discourses. An extract from one of his ser- 
mons, which proves that the author believed there was such a place 
as hell, and that he was able to array the terrors of the Lord against 
tne impenitent, is preserved in the historical collections. He was 
mild in his natural temper, and his conversation was pleasant and 
sometimes facetious, but always decent. His second wife was the 
daughter of the reverend Mr. Willard of Boston. One of his 
daughters by her was the mother of the honorable judge Paiue. 
Mr. Treat published the confession of faith in the Nauset Indian 
language; and the election sermon, \7 \'Z. -^Collect, hist, soc, viii. 
170 — 183 ; MagJialia^ III. 200, 

TRUMBULL (Jonathan), governor of Connecticut, was born 
at Lebanon in 1710, and was graduated at Harvard college in 1727. 
He was chosen governor in 1769 and was annually elected till 1783, 
when he resigned, having been occupied for fifty years without in- 
terruption in public employments, and having rendered during eight 
years* war the most important services to his country. Having seen 
the termination of the contest in the establishment of the indepen- 
dence of America he withdrew from public labors, that he might 
devote himself to the concerns of religion, and to a better prepara- 
tion for his future existence. He.died August 17, 1785 in the sev- 
enty fifth year of his age. In the latter years of his life he was the 
intimate friend of president Stiles, who esteemed him the more 
highly for uniting an accurate knowledge of theology with his polit- 
ical abilities, and especially for the union of piety with his patriot- 
ism. General Washington in a letter of condolence on his death to 
one of his sons, wrote thus ; " under this loss, however great as your 
pangs may have been at the first shock, you have every thing to con- 
sole you. A long and well spent life in the service of his country- 
placed governor Trumbull among the first of patriots ; in the social 
duties he yielded to none ; and his lamp fi'om the common course 
of nature being nearly extingusihed, worn down with age and cares, 
but retaining his mental faculties in perfection are blessings, which 
attend rarely his advanced life. All these combining have secured 
tp his memory universal respect here, and no doubt increasing hap- 
71 



554 TUC. 

piness hereafter." A long letter of governor Trumbull upon the 
•war is printed in the historical collections.— il/ar«Aa/^, li. afifiend. 3 ; 
Vi 58 ; Holmes* life of Sdlen, 282 ; C/mstellux's travels^ i. 33 ; A*. 
Y. sfiectator^ January 8, 1800; Collect, hist. soc. v'x. 154—183 ; A' 
merican museum., ii. 32 — 36. 

TUCKER (JoH.v, D. D.), minister of Newbury, Massachusetts, 
was born in /Vmesbuiy, and was graduated at Harvard college in 
1741. He was ordai;icd colleague with the reverend Christopher 
Tappan November 20, 1745. As there was not a perfect union in 
the invitation, which was given him, he hesitated long ; but as the 
opposition arose from contrariety of sentiment, which probably 
would continue to exist, he was induced to accept the call. Those, 
who dissented, formed with others the presbyterian society vt>f which 
the reverend Jonathan Parsons was the first minister. Dr. Tuck«r 
died March 22, 1792, in the seventy third year of his age, and the 
forty seventh of his ministry. The I'evcrend Mr. Moor succeeded 
him, and the reverend Mr. Popkin is now the minister of the same 
church. He possessed a strong and well furnished mind, and in ar- 
gumentation exhibited peculiar ingenuity and talents. In his ex- 
amination of the sacred scriptures he formed conclusions respecting 
some doctrines different from those, whicli were adopted by many 
of his brethren, but his life displayed the Christian virtues. He 
was habitually meek and placid, but when called to engage in con- 
troversy he defended himself with courage and with the keenness of 
satire. He published a sermon, preached at the ordination of Ed- 
mund Noyes, Salisbury, 1751 ; four sermons, on the danger of sin- 
ners hardening their hearts under the sparing mercy of an offended 
God, on God's special care over the righteous under public calami- 
ties occasioned by the earthquakes, on the scripture doctrine of the 
reconciliation of sinners to God, and on being born of God, 1756 ; 
a thanksgiving discourse, 1756; observations on the doctrines and 
ilncharitableness of the reverend Jonathan Parsons, as exhibited 
more especially in his late discourses on 1 Timothy i 15, 1757; 
a sermon at the ordination of Amos Moody, Pclham, N. H. 1765 ; 
a- brief account of an ecclesiastical council, so called, convened in 
the first parish in Newl)ury, to which is annexed a discourse, being 
a minister's appeal to his hearers, as to his life and doctrines, 1767; 
two discourses occasioned by the death of reverend John Lowell, 
Newbury port, 1767 ; remarks on a sermon of reverend Aaron 
Hutchinson, pre:iched April 23, 1767 ; the replv of reverend Aa- 
ron Hutchinson considered, 1768 ; a letter to reverend Jamos Chand- 
ler, Rowley, relative to a marginal note or two in his sermon, 
preached at Ncwhuryport June 2 5, 1767, preparatory to the set- 
riing of a minister ; a reply to Mr. Chandler's answer, 1768; re- 
marks on Mr. Chandler's serious address to a societv at Ntwbnrv- 
port, 1768 ; a sermon at the convention of ministers. Miy 26, 1768 ; 
two sermons, on the gospel condition of salvation, and on the nature 



TUR. 555 

and necessity of the Father's drawing such as come to Christ, 1769 ; 
the election sermon, 1771 ; remarks on a discourse of reverend 
Jonatnan Parsons, delivered March 5, 1774 ; the Dudleian lecture 
at Cambridge entitled, the validity of presbyterian ordination ar- 
gued from Jesus Christ's being the tounder, the sole legiblator, and 
supreme head and ruler of the Christian church, 1778 ; and a ser- 
itioa at Newbury Port August 14, 1788, on a day for seeking tlie di- 
vine direction in the ctioice of a colleague pastor with reverend 
Tnomas Cary. — Eames'fun. serm ; Po/ikin's scrjnons on quirting the 
old, and entering the new meeting house.^ J\''ewbury. 

TURELL (Ebenezer), minister of Medtord, Massachusetts, 
was graduated at Harvitrd college in 172 1, and was ordained No- 
vember 25, 1724, as successor ot tlie reverend Auron Porter. He 
died December 5, 1778, in the seventy seventh year ot his age, and 
the fitty fourth of his ministry. He w.ts au eminent preacher, of a 
ready invention, a correct judgment, and fervent devotion, who deliv- 
ered divine truth with animation, uud maintained discipline in his 
church with boldness tempered with prudence. His doctrine was 
Cdlvinistic, and always improved to promote practical godliness. 
To his country he was a zealous friend in all its interests. Alter 
following to the grave thiee wives of the first families, one of whom 
v/ai the daughter of the reverend Dr. Colman, he himself died in the 
lively hope of a blessed immortality through the merits of his divine 
Master. He published the life and character of the reverend Dr. 
Colman, Sv^o, 1749. — Inde/iendent chronicle, February ^5, 1779. 

TYTLER (James), eminent for learning, was a native of Scot- 
land, and emigrated to this country about the year 1796. He died 
at Salem, Massachusetts, in January 1804 in the fifty ninth year of 
his i\ge. He was poor and lived on a point of land at a little dis- 
tance from the town. Returnhig to his house in a dark night he 
fell into a clay pit and was drowned. His conduct in life was mark- 
ed with almost perpetual impnadence ; yet he was a man of no 
common science and genius. He was one of the editors of the Ed- 
inburgh'edition of the encyclopedia Britannica, published a number 
of years ago, and compiled the articles aerology, aerostation, chem- 
istry, electricity, gunnery, hydrostatics, mechanics, meteorology, a 
part of the article motion, and most of the separate articles in the va- 
rious branches of natural history. He published in great Britain an 
answer to the first part of Paine's age of reason, and at Saleni in 
1796 an answer to his second part. He also published a treatise on 
the plague and yellow fever, 8vo. At the time of his death he was 
engaged in compiling a universal geography. — Encyclop. Philadel- 
phia edit, fireface^ xiii. 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, the last nation, which 
has arisen in the world, existed formerly as disconnected colonies 
of Great Britain. After the settlement of America the first appear- 
ance of a .union among the distinct colonies is presented in the art?- 



556 UNI. 

cics of confederation entered into at Boston May 15, 1643 by com- 
missioners Irom New iiaven, Coniitclicut, Massachusetts, and 
Plymouth. It was agreed, that two deputies Irom each of these 
colonics should meet annually, and have power to make war and 
peace with the Dutch, I'rench, and Indians, and to establish all laws 
Oi a general concern. All com.iion affairs were to be transacted 
under the name ol the Unitcu Colonies oi New England. Rnode 
Island applied lor admission in 1648, but was reiused. This union 
coniinuccl more than forty years till the abrogation of the New Eng- 
land charters by James II. A more extensive plan oi union was 
proposed m 1 734 in consequence otihe apprehension of an approach- 
ing war with tne French. A convention, consisting of delegates 
from New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Kiiode Island, Connecticut, 
Pennsylvania, and Maryland, with the lieutenant governor and coun- 
cil ot New York, met at Albany on the fourteenth oi June, and after 
making a treaty with the Indians of the six nations, took up tne sub- 
ject of union. A plan, which was drawn up by Dr. Franklin, was 
signed on the fourth of July by all the delegates, excepting those of 
Connecticut. Ii proposed a general government, to be administered 
by a president general appointed by the crown, and by a grand coun- 
cil, consisting of members chosen by the colonial assemblies. No 
colony was to have more than seven, nor less than two represent- 
atives. The consent of the president was to be necessary to the 
passing of a bill into a law, and all laws were to be sent to England 
for the approbation of the king. Among other powers to be vested 
in the president and council was that of laying such duties, imposts, 
Ol taxes as should be necessary for the general defence. A copy of 
this plan was transmitted to each of the colonial assemblies and to 
the king's council, and it was rejected by both ; by the first, because 
it was supposed to give too much power to the representative of the 
king, and by the last because it was supposed to give too much power 
to tne representatives of the people. It is less surprising that the 
contederation should be rejected in England, than that the conven- 
tion should have been permitted to take place, or that when assem- 
bled the delegates should have been suffered to direct their thoughts 
to the subject oi union. The proposal ol a union first came from 
Shirley, the royal governor of IVIassachusetts. After the passing of 
the stamp act by the British parliament for the purpose of raising a 
revenue in America, the assembly of Massachusetts proposed a 
congress of deputies from each colony to consult on the common 
interest. Deputies from tlie assemblies of Massachusetts, Rhode 
Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, the 
Delaware counties, Maryland, and South Carolina accordingly met 
at New York in October 1765, and immediately made a declaration 
of rights and grievances. Tl.ey claimed lor the colonies the ex- 
•clusivc power of taxing themselves, and agreed upon a petition to 
the king, and a memorial to each house oi parliament. From Xh'v: 



UNI. 557 

period the pretensions of Great Britain were examined with the 
greatest frpedom ; the assemblies of diffitrent colonics adopted spir- 
ited resolutions, asserting their rights ; a general non importation 
agreement was entered into ; committees of corresponaence were 
appointed ; and affairs were hastening to a crisis. The bill, which 
S^mt the port of Boston in 1774, excited universal indignation. 
Through sympathy in the sufferings oi Massuchusetts the house of 
burgesses of Virginia appointed a day of lasting and prayer, and 
signed an agreement, declaring, that an attack upon a sister colony 
to compel submission to arbitrary taxes was an attack on all British 
America. They also directed the committee of correspondence to 
propose a general congress. On the fifth ot September 1774 the 
first congress, composed of delegates from eleven colonies, was 
held at Philadelphia. During a session of eight weeks a declaration 
of rights was adopted; a non importation, non consumption, and 
Don exportation agreement was made ; an address to the people of 
Great Britain,a memorial to the inhabitants of British America, and 
a loyal address to his majesty were prepared ; and letters were 
written to the people of Canada, and to the colonies of St. John's, 
Nova Scotia, Georgia, and the Floridas, inviting them to unite in 
the common cause. The battle of Lexington, April 19, 1775, was 
the signal of war and the royal troops in Boston soon found them- 
selves besieged by an army of twenty thousand men. The second 
congi'ess assembled at Philadelphia on the tenth of May, and imme- 
diately resolved upon taking up arms, and emitted bills of credit to 
the amount of three millions of dollars to deiray the expenses of the 
war, for the redemption of which bills the twelve confederate cole- 
nies werel^ledged. They however prepared a second petition to 
the king, a second address to the inhabitants of Great Britain, and 
addresses to the people of Canada, and to the assembly of Jamaica, 
all of which were written in a masterly manner. In the mean time 
Ticonderoga and Crown Point were taken by troops under the com- 
mand of colonel Allen, and the hard fought battle of Bunker's hill 
in the neighborhood of Boston on the seventeenth of June taught 
the Americans, that they were able to contend with the disciplined 
troops oi Great Britain. General Washington arrived at Cambridge 
as the commander in chief in July. In the autumn Canada was 
invaded by Montgomery, who took Montreal, and Arnold penetrat- 
ed through the wilderness of the district of Maine and presented 
himself before Quebec. Tiie assault upon the city at the close of the 
year was however unsuccessful. The British were reduced to the 
necessity of evacuating Boston March 17, 1776, and in June the A- 
mericans were obliged to withdraw themselves from Canada. On 
the fourth of July, after an animated debate, the declaration of inde- 
pendence was adopted by congress. The members of that illustri- 
ous body solemnly declared the united colonies to be " free and in- 
dependent states," and in support of this declaration, with a firm 



558 UNT. 

reliance on the protectionof divine providence, they mutually pledg-: 
ed to eacu otiier their lives, tiieir toriunes, and tneir sacred nonor. 
In August the British drove the Aaiericans from Long Island; in 
Se|.lernber they tooR. possession ol New York ; and in a short ume 
they captured forls Wasnington and Lee, and obliged the command- 
er in chielto retire beyond the Delaware. The congress removed 
to Baltimore in December. On the twenty bixth ol this month the 
baitle ol Trenton revived the expiring cause of America. Dur- 
ing the year 1777 there was a number of warm engagemeiits. 
In September after the battle of Brandywine the enemy took pos- 
session of Philadelphia. The Americans were again defeated in 
the battle of Germantown October the fourth. The northern cam- 
paign was more encouraging, for on the seventeenth of October 
Burgoyne was captured with his whole army of upwards of five 
thousand seven hundred men. In the beginning of 1778 a treity 
was made with France, and a powerful ally obtained. This event 
induced the British to abandon Philadelphia in June in order to 
concentrate the I'oyal lorces at New York. They were pursued and 
attacked at Monmouth. At the close of the year Savannah fell in- 
to the hands of the enemy. In 1779 an expedition vv'as unc'ertaken 
from New York against Connecticut, and New Haven was plunuer- 
ed, and Fairfield and Norwalk burned. Stony point on the other 
hand was taken by general Wayne by assault. The country ot the 
Indians of the six nations was desolated by general SullivcU in Au- 
gust and September. In October an unsuccessful attempt to re- 
cover Savannah was made by count D 'Estaing and general Liiicoln. 
On the twenty fifth of the same month Newport hi Rhode Island, 
which had been held by the enemy from December 1776^as evac- 
uated. In the year 1780 sir Henry Clinton sailed to Charles- 
ton, and on the twelfth of May made general Lincoln and the 
whole garrison prisoners. On the sixteenth of August Gates 
was defeated in the buttle of Camden. In September the treach- 
ery of Arnold was detected. The year 1781 was distinguished 
by the most important events. Greene, who had superseded Gates 
in the southern department, brought the highest honor to the Amer- 
ican arms. The splendid victory of Eutaw on the eighth of Septem- 
ber closed the revolutionary wa'' in South Carolina. Cornwallis was 
besieged in York town by the united American and French armies, 
and on the nineteentli of October he was obliged to capitulate with 
about six thousand raen. The capture of this army may be consid- 
ered as the termination of the war, for the events, which took place 
afterwards, were of little comparative magnitude. 

Till the year 1781 the powers of congress seem to have been de- 
fined by no formal agreement between the several states, but in this 
year articles of confederation were adopted. The articles had been 
made by congress November 15, 1777, and submitted to the indi- 
vidual states, but Maryland -did not sign them till March 1, 1781 



tJNI. 559 

On their reception by this state the act of union was completed. 
There were perhaps some advantages in the delay of tiiis event ; 
for as seven states were a majority, whenever that number mei it 
was considered as the representative body of the thirteen, and if 
a measure was adopted by four out of the seven, it was considered 
as the act of the whole, even in those cases, which by tlie confeder- 
ation required the concurrence of nine states. The following are 
the principal features of the confederation, which was the iounda- 
tionx>f the American government until the establishment of the 
present constitution. The style of the confederacy was, the Unit- 
ed States of America, eacn stute retaining all powers not expressly 
delegated No state was to be represented in congress by less than 
two, nor by more than seven members. The delegates were chosen 
annually, and while they were incapable of being chosen for more 
than three years in any term of six years, they were liable at any 
time to be recallea. No one could be a member of congress, who 
held an office of profit under the United States. Each state was to 
have one vote. Affairs of common concern were for the most part 
intrusted to congress. There was to be a common treasury, and a rev- 
enue was to be raised by taxes, apportioned among the states ac- 
cording to the value of surveyed lands and buildings, but to be levi- 
ed by the legislutures of the I'espective states. In all disputes re- 
specting the boundary or jurisdiction of states, an appeal could be 
made to congress in the last resort. Measures were decided by a 
majority of the United States assembled. Congress could not ad- 
journ for a longer time than six. months, and during a recess " a 
committee of the states," consisting of one delegate from each, might 
execute such powers, as nine of the states should confer upon thera. 
No alteration could be made in the articles of union, unless agreed 
to in congress, and confirmed by the legislatures of every state. 

On the thirtieth of November 1782 provisional articles of peace 
between Great Britain and the United St \tr.swere sij^'ned, and thede^ 
finitive treaty September 3, 1783 New York was evacuated on the 
twenty fifth of November, and Washington soon afterwards repaired 
to congress and resigned his military commission. In 1786 there was 
an insurrection in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, occasioned 
principally by the burdens of the necess iry taxes, but it was suppress- 
ed in the following year. In M.-y 1787 the convention, which framed 
the present constitution of the United Stales assembled at Philadel- 
phia. Anew government had been rendered necessary by'the imbe- 
cility of the confederation. An enormous debt had been contracted 
by the war, and to discharge it a system of revenue had been devised, 
an essential part of which was a general impost. But as the states 
were no longer bound together by common danger and common in- 
terest, the ordinances of congress were disre;;Hrded. Commercial 
re<i:ulations, adopted by some states, only operated to divert the 
course of business to the advantage of the other states. In the midst 



560 UNI. 

of the calamities, which were felt, and of greater calamities, which 
were apprehended, Mr. Madison in the legislature ot Virginia pro- 
posed a general convention. Commissioners accordingly met at 
Annapolis in September 1786, but adjourned to May 25, 1787, 
when delegates with more ample poweis assembled ; and they 
agreed upon (.he present constitution on the seventeenth of Septem- 
ber. It was ratified first by Delaware December 3, 1787, and by 
the twenty fifth of June 1788 it was accepted by nme other states, 
which more than completed the number necessary lor rendering it 
valid. It was afterwards a!)opted by New York July 26, 1788, by 
North Carolina November 27, 1789, by Rhode isUidMay 29, 1790, 
and by Vermont January 10, 1791. The constitution of the Unit- 
ed States, as it now exists, for some amendments have been made, 
vests all legislative powers in a congress, consisting of a senate 
and a house of representatives, the members of the former to 
be chosen for six ye us by the legislatures of the respective states, 
and the members of the latter to be chosen for two years by the 
people of the several states. " Two senators are chosen from each 
state, and one representative is allowed for every thirty three thous- 
and of estimated persons in a state, the following rule being adopted 
in making the estimation, that to the whole number of free persons, 
including those bound to service for a term of years, and excluding 
Indians not taxed, there be added three fifths of all other persons. 
No person, holding any office under the United States, can be a mem- 
ber of either house. The executive power is vested in a president of 
the United States of America. He is chosen every four yeai s by elec- 
tors, appointed by each of the states, in number equal to the whole 
number of senators and rep"esentatives, to which a state may be en- 
titled. These electors meet in their separate states on the same 
day, and give in written votes for a president and vice prc-idCiit. A 
list of these votes is transmitted to the seat of government, wuere ihe y 
are counted in the presence of the senate and the house of repre- 
sentatives. The person, who has a majority of the whole number 
of votes for president is elevated to that office. In the event of 
his decease, tlie vice president, who presides in the senate, takes 
his place. The president is so far concerned in legislation, 'that 
every bill, which has passed the two houses of congress, must be 
presented to him for his si^^nature, and if he objects to it must be 
reconsidered and approved by two thirds of each house before it can 
become a law. With the advice and consent of the senate he has 
power to make treaties, and appoint ambassadors, and the principal 
public officers. The judges of the supreme and inferior courts 
hold their offices during good behavior. No religious test is re- 
quired as a qualification to any office or pu!)lic trust under the United 
States, and no law can be made respecting an establishment of re- 
ligion. All powers not delegated are reserved to the states i'e» 
spectively or to the people. 



VAN. 561 

Onthe sixth of April 1789 a quorum of senators and representatives 
assembled at New York, and on counting- the votes dechired George 
Washington to be elected president and John Adams vice president of 
the United States. On the thirtieth Washington was inaugurated 
into his high office. His administration lasted eight years, as he 
was reelected after the expiration of the first term. A treaty with 
Great IJritain was signed at London November 19, 1794, and treat- 
ies with Spain and the dey of Algiers were made in 1795. During 
the continuance of president Washington in office the foundations 
of the prosperity of America were laid. In 1797 John Adams was 
chosen president of the United States and Thomas Jefferson vice 
president. During this administration a treaty was made with 
Prussia July 11, 1799, and after repeated injuries from revolution- 
ary France a conventibn was concluded at Paris with the French 
republic September 30, 1800. This event contributed much to the 
growing prosperity of America. In 1801 Thomas Jefferson was 
elected president and Aaron Burr vice president of the United 
States. In 1803 Louisiana was purchased of France for fifteen 
millions of dollars. In 1805 Thomas Jefferson was reelected pres- 
ident and George Clinton was chosen vice president of the United 
States. In this year general Eaton distinguished himself by his 
exploits against the barbarians of Tripoli. In December 1806 a 
negotiation for the settlement of differences with England termin- 
ated in a treaty, which was sent to this country. It was rejected by 
the president because it contained no engagement against th^ im- 
pressment of seamen from merchant vessels, and on account of a note 
annexed, that England retained the right of retaliating on the prin- 
ciples of the Berlin decree, if the United States sul)mitted to it. In 
December 1807 an act,layiiig an embargo on all vessels in the ports 
of the United States, was passed in consequence of the decree of 
Berlin by the French emperor, declaring the British islands in a 
state of blockade, and of " increasing dangers," which threatened 
our commerce. This act continued in force until the non inter- 
course act was substituted in its place at the close of the adminis- 
tration of Mr. Jefferson. In 1809 James Madison was chosen pres- 
ident of the United States and George Clinton was chosen vice 
president. On the nineteenth of April the president issued a proc- 
lamation restoring the intercourse with Great Britain on tiie tenth 
of June, as the government of that country had declared, that the 
orders in council in retaliation of the French decree would at that 
time be withdrawn, as far as they respected the United States. — Mar- 
shall ; Ramsay ; Gordon ; Warren ; HHnot ; Morse's geog. ; Holmes^ 
annals ; Jdam's JV. E. ; Belkna/i's A. H. ii. 284 — 287. 

VANE (Sir Henry), governor of Massachusetts, was born in 

England and educated at Oxford. He then went to Geneva, where 

he became a republican, and found arguments against the established 

"church. On his return to London, ns his nonconformity displeased 

73 



562 VAR. 

the bishop, he came to Xew Enijland hi the bcguining of 1635. In 
the next year, though he was only twenty four years of age, he was 
chosen governor ; but attaching himself to the party of Mrs. 
Hutchinson, he was in 1637 superseded by governor Winthrop. 
lie soon returned to England, where he joined the party against 
the king, thougli he was opposed to the usurpation of Cromwell. 
After the restoration he was tried for high treason, and beheaded 
June 14, 1662, aged fifty years. Hume in his history of England 
represents his conduct at his execution in a manner, which renders 
him an object of admiration. He published a number of speeches ; 
the retired man's meditations, or the mystery and power of godli- 
ness, showing forth the living word, 8cc. 4to, 1655 ; a needful cor- 
rective or balance in popular government ; of the love of God and 
imion -with God ; an epistle general to the mystical body of Christ, 
&c. 1662 ; the face of the times, or the enmity between the seed 
of the woman and of the serpent, i662 ; meditations concerning 
man's life ; nicditations on death ; and a number of political tracts, 
and pieces relating to his trial. — Fattens life ; Wood^s Ath. Oxon. ii. 
291 — 297; Hutchinson, i. 41, 53 — 57, 61 — 67; Mai's ME.i, 
161, 162 ; JBtlkna/i's biog. ii. 346; Umt/iro/iy 88, 93, 100, 128; 
Collect, hist. soc. v. 172; Hardie. 

VARNUM (James M.), a major general in the late American 
army, died at Marietta in December 1789. A letter, addressed to 
his wife a few days before his death, in which he speaks of the val- 
ue of the gospel, is in the Massachusetts magazine for November, 
1790. He was a representative of congress from Rhode Island be- 
fore the adoption of the present constitution. 

VAUDREUIL (Marquis de), governor of Canada, received 
the government of Mo.ntrcal in 1689 and in 1703 he succeeded to 
the government of the whole province of Canada. He continued 
in this office till his death October 10, 1725. His administration 
was distinguished by vigilance, finnness, and success. He was suc- 
ceeded by the chevalier de Beauharnois, who sent one of his officers 
to penetrate to the south sea. This object was effected.— C/iar/c- 
voix.1 nouv. France.) ii. 77 — 409. 

VERMONT, one of the United States of America, was not set- 
tled in any part until 172 4, when fort Dummer on Connecticut river 
was built by Massachusetts. The French from Canada built a fort 
at Crown Point in 1731. WhcTi the boundary line between Massa- 
chusetts and New Hampshire was drawn in 1741, the latter colony 
concluded, that its jurisdiction extended as far west, as that of the 
former, and under this impression granted many townships of lands. 
The government of New York, which claimed the territory, which 
is now Vermont, required the settlers to take out new grants, which 
were attended with great expense. The settlers generally refused 
and the controversy rose to such a height about the year 1765, that 
some of the officci*s of New York were resisted and wounded in 



VIR. 563 

attempling to execute the judgments of the coui'ts of that province. 
The people were determined not quietly to submit to oppression. 
Colonels Allen and Warner were the leaders in the opposition, and 
they were cool, firm, and resolute. At length the government of 
New York passed a law in 1774 requiring all offenders to surrender 
themselves under the severest penalties, and fifty pounds a head 
were offered for the apprehension of eight of the most obnoxious 
of the settlers. Preparations were now making for civil war, when 
provincial disputes were lost in the grandeur of the contest, which 
commenced with Great Britain. A convention in 1777 adopted the 
bold measure of declaring the New Hampshire grants, as Vermont 
•was then called, a free and independent state. They then petitioned 
congress for admission into the union, but the petition was dismissed. 
New York called for the interference of congress in support of their 
claims, but it was thought dangerous to irritate a brave people, who 
were in the neighborhood of the enemy. Vermont at the same 
time had the policy to enter into a negotiation with the British in 
Canada, and thus alarmed congress, and prevented an invasion by 
the royal troops. After the peace admission into the union ceased 
to be an object of desire, and the circumstances of this state be- 
came most easy and prosperous. The long continued controversy 
with New York was terminated in 1790 by an agreement on the 
part of Vermont to pay the former thirty thousand dollars. On the 
renewal of the request to be admitted into the federal union, an act 
of congress completed the business February 18, 1791. A consti- 
tution of government was formed by Vermont in 1778, and it was 
revised in 1786 and 1792. The present constitution of this stafe 
■was adopted in July 1793. It vests the legislative powers in a gen- 
eral assembly, consisting of representatives from the several towns, 
annually chosen. The governor is elected every year, and with 
the consent of a council, appointed by the people, he may propose 
amendments to all bills, originating in the assembly, and if the 
amendments are not agreeed to, he may suspend the passing of 
such bills until the next session of the legislature. His authority 
however is very limited, for he has only a casting vote in the coun- 
cil. The judges of the state are chosen annually by the assembly. 
A council of censors is chosen every seven years, whose authority 
continues for but one year. They are empowered to inquire 
whether the constitution has been preserved inviolate, to call a con- 
vention, and to pass censures — Williams'' hist, of Vermont. 

VIRGINIA, one of the United States of America, was given by 
patent to the London company in 1606. For twenty years previously 
to this time attempts had been made to establish a colony in Virginia 
under the patronage of sir Walter Raleigh, but the settlements 
were broken up and the attempts were unsuccessful. The first 
permanent colony, sent out by the company already mentioned, 
arrived in 1607. The adventurers took possession of a peninsula 



564 VIR. 

on Powhatan or James' river May the thirteenth, and irnm'ediately 
conimencecl buikling a town, which they called James Town. This 
was the first permanent habitation of the English in America. Be- 
fore the close of the year the number of the colony amounted to 
two hundred. In 1608 captain Smith in ap open barge with four- 
teen persons explored the waters from cape Henry to the Susque- 
hannah. On his return he was made president of the colony. A 
second charter with more ample privileges was granted in 1 609, 
and as the number of proprietors was increased, the augmented 
wealth and reputation enabled them to proceed with greater spirit. 
Seven ships were fitted out with five hundred people for the colony. 
Soon after their arrival a plot was formed by the Indians for exter- 
minating them, but it being disclosed by Pocahontas, they weie 
providentially saved from destruction. In 1610 the sufferings of 
the colony were extreme both on account of the hostility of the 
Indians, and the want of provisions. Of near five hundred persons 
left at the departure of captain Smith sixty only remained at the 
expiration of six months. The small remains of the colony had 
embarked with the intention of returning to England, when the ar- 
rival of lord Delaware prevented them from abandoning the country. 
Jle came with three ships and an abundant supply of provisions. 
He appointed a council to assist him in the administration. Under 
his care the affairs of the colony were soon reestablished. A third 
charter, granted in 1612, annexed to Virginia all the islands within 
three hundred miles of that coast. A provincial legislature, in which 
the colonists were represented, was established in 1619. In the 
foUowiiig year the settlement was increased and strengthened by the 
accession of more than twelve hundred persons. As many of the 
settlers were destitute of wives, the company was politic enough to 
send over one hundred and fifty girls, young and handsome. The 
price of a wife at first was one hundred pounds of tobacco, but as the 
number was diminished, the price was increased to one hundred and 
fifty pounds, the value of which in money was three shillings per 
pound. The first negroes were imported into Virginia in 1620. 
In the following year sir Francis Wyat arrived as governor with 
seven hundred people. Some changes took place in the governmeht 
favorable to freedom. The constitution at this period became fixed. 
The assembly was composed of two burgesses from every planta- 
tion, and all matters were to be decided by tiie majority of voices, 
reservmg a negative to the governor. A glebe of a hundred acres 
of land was ordered in every borough, and the stipend of the minis- 
ter was fixed at about two hundred pounds sterling. There were 
at this time only five ministers in the colony. The year 1622 is 
memorable for the massacre of the English. On the twenty seventh 
of March the Indians carried into effect a preconcerted conspiracy, 
and massacred with indiscriminate barbarity three hundred and forty 
seven of the English, who were unresisting and defenceless. A 



WAD. 565 

war imme4iately commenced, and to its evils were added the mis- 
eries of famine. A new supply from the parent country soon how- 
ever counterbalanced the losses, wliich had been sustained. In 
1624 the charter of Virginia was vacated, and the company, Avhich 
had expended more than one hundred thousand pounds in planting 
the colony, was dissolved. King Charles I in 1625 made Virginia 
dependent on the crown. In 1633 severe laws were enacted to sup- 
press sectaries and preserve uniiormity in religion. Sir William 
Berkley was appointed governor in 1639, and a regular administra- 
tion u/ justice took place. Virginia w as the last of the king's do- 
minions, which submitted to Cromwel.'s usurpation, and the first 
that threw it off. After the restoration, in the year 1662 the church 
of England was regularly established by the asse iibiy, and all min- 
isters not ordained by some bishop in England were prohibited from 
preaching on pain of suspension o" banishment. The year 1676 is 
memorable for Bacon's rebellion. Several causes contributed to 
produce it, among which causes were the clashing of different grants 
of lands, the impositions on the trade of the plantations, and the dim- 
inution of the traffic with the Indians. Mr. Bacon fomented the 
discontent, which existed, and at length usurped the government. 
His sudden death extinguished the flames of civil v/ar. This rebell- 
ion cost the colony one hundred thousand pounds. The colony 
from this period increased, and no very important events took place 
for a number of years. At the commencement of the controversy 
with Great Britain, which terminated in American independence, 
Virginia passed the first resolutions against the stamp act, asserting 
the colonial rights, and denying the claim of parliamentary taxation. 
This state was uniformly distinguished for intelligence and decision. 
The present constitution of Virginia was adopted July 5, 1776. It 
vests the legislative powers in a general assembly, consisting of a 
house of delegates and a senate, the members of wliich are chosen 
annually. No person can be a senator more than four years out of 
any five. The governor is chosen by the assembly. With the ad- 
vice of a council he exercises the executive powers of government. 
The judges, who hold their offices during good behavior, are ap- 
pointed by thfe assembly; the justices of the peace are appointed 
by the governor.— "Sinith ; Keith ; Stith ; Burk ; Wynne ; Brit, em- 
fiire.^ ii. 213 — 239 ; Jefferson* s notes ; Morsels geog. ; Holmes an' 
nals ; Douglass, ii, 385—392, 414 — 426 j Piirchas' Jiilgrims^ v. 

WADDELL (James, d.d.), a presbyterian minister in the coun* 
ty of Orange, Virginia, died in Albemarle county in the summer of 
1805. But little is known of him, as his retired habits and situation 
have involved him in obscurity. He is however represented as a 
preacher of very uncommon eloquence. A traveller speaks of en- 
tering his old, decayed house of worship in the forest. He was 
struck with the preternatural appearance of a tall and very spare 
old man, whose head, covered with a white linen cap, whose shriv- 



566 WAD 

elled hands and voice were all shaking under the influence of a pal- 
sy, and who was perfectly blind. It was a day of the administra- 
tion of the sacrament, and his subject was the passion of the Savior. 
As he descended from the pulpit to distribute the mystic symbols^ 
there was more than a human solemnity in his air and manner. He 
drew a picture of the sufferings of our Savior, of his trial before Pi- 
late, of his ascent to Calvary, of his crucifixion and death. His voice 
trembled on every syllable, and every heart trembled in unison. 
He presented the original scene to the eyes of the assembly, and all 
were indignant. He touched the patience and the forgiving meek- 
ness of the Redeemer, and as he represented his blessed eyes stream- 
ing in tears to heaven, and his voice breathing a gentle prayer of 
pardon for his murderers, the voice of the preacher, which had all 
along faltered, grew fainter and fainter, until his utterance being 
completely broken, he raised his handkerchief to his eyes, and burst 
into a loud and irresistible flood of grief. The groans and sobs of 
the congregation mingled in sympathy. When he was enabled to 
proceed, he broke the awful silence in a manner, which did not im- 
pair the dignity and solemnity of the subject. Removing his white 
handkerchief from his aged face, wet with tears, and slowly stretch- 
ing forth the palsied hand, which held it, he said, adopting the words 
of Rousseau, " Socrates died like a philosopher ;" then pausing, 
raising his other hand,, pressing them clasped together with 
warmth and energy to his breast, lifting his sightless eyeballs to 
heaven, and pouring his soul into his tremulous voice, he added, 
*' but Jesus Christ like a God !" — The Britiah spy in Virginia; 
Evarig. intelligencer^ March 1808 ; JV. Y, sJiecta(or, October 19, 
1805. 

WADSWORTH (Benjamin), president of Harvard college, was 
graduated at that seminary in 1 690. He was ordained minister of 
the first church in Boston, as colleague with Mr. Allen, September 
8, 1696. Here he continued till his election as president of Har- 
vard college as the successor of Mr. Leverett. Into this office he 
was inducted July 7, 1725, Mr. Foxcroft, his colleague, remaining 
in the church at Boston. Mr. Wadsworth died March 16, 1737 in 
in the sixty eighth year of his age. His successor was president 
Holyoke. His heart was early impressed with the truths of the 
gospel. While he had the most affectionate conceni for the highest 
welfare of his fellow men, he possessed the faculty of making relig- 
ious truth plain and intelligible to the meanest capacity. His learn- 
ing was considerable, and he was most pious, humble, prudent, and 
a very pathetic and excellent preacher. A tcntli part of his income 
he devoted to charitable uses. He published artillery election ser- 
mon 1700; exhortations to early piety, 1702 ; three sermons, enti- 
tled, men worse in their carriage to God than to one another, psalms 
sung with grace in the heart, a pious tongue an enriching treasure, 
1706; discourses on the day of judgment, 1709; a sennon on as- 



WAL. 567 

sembling at the house of God, 1710 ; the well ordered family, 1712 ; 
Christian advice to the sick and mxH ; explanation of assembly's 
catechism, or an help to get knowledge, 1714; invitation to the 
gospel feast in eleven sermons, 12 mo; saints' prayer to escape 
temptation; a discourse on the death of Isaac Addington, 1715 ; 
election sermon, 1716 ; twelve single sermons on various subjects, 
1717; zeal against flagrant wickedness ; essay for spreading the 
gospel into ignorant places, 8vo, 1718; Christ's fan is in his hand ; 
imitation of Christ a Christian duty, 1722; a dialogue between a 
minister and his neighbor on the Lord's supper, 1724 ; it is honor- 
able not shameful to suffer, 1725 ; the benefits of a good and mis- 
chiefs of an evil conscience in fourteen sermons ; none but the 
righteous saved. — -St waZ/'sawf/ Wigglesworth's discourses on/iis death; 
Flynt's oratio funebris ; Collect, hist. soc. x. 169. 

WALES (Samuel, d.d.), professor of divinity in Yale college, 
was graduated at that seminary in 1767, and was afterwards the min- 
ister of Milford. He was inducted into his office as successor of 
professor Daggett, June 12, 1782. He died February 18, 1794. 
For two years pi'eviously to this event he was afflicted with an ep- 
ilepsy. His mighty mind was broken, and the great man was in 
ruins. He brought to the theological chair great abilities, a pure 
and energetic style, exemplary piety, and dignity and solemnity of 
manner. The following anecdote is a specimen of his wit. Being 
once asked by a lawyer how it happened, that while many persons 
descended from the pulpit, and entered the bar, so few lawyers 
should renounce their profession and become ministers ; he replied, 
Facilis descensus Averni ; — 
Sed revocare gradum, superasque evadere ad auras. 
Hoc opus, hie labor est.— 'Holmes' life of Stilesj 29, 280, 
296, 338, 339. 

WALLEY (Thomas), minister of Barnstable, Massachusetts, 
was ejected from a parish in London by the act of unifonnity in 
1662, and in the following year sought a refuge from ecclesiastical 
oppression in America, and was settled at Barnstable. The church 
in this town had been broken with disputes ; bvit the prudent and 
holy Walley was the means of restoring the harmony, which had 
been interrupted. He died March 24, 1679, aged sixty one years. 
He was an accomplished scholar and an eminent Christian. His 
remarkable humility rendered him quiet in himself, and promoted 
peace, wherever he went. He made the Lord Jesus Christ the 
main subject of his preaching. In the discharge of the sacred of- 
fice he was mindful, that the souls of persons in the humblest sta- 
tions were infinitely precious, as well as the souls of persons in the 
highest. In his visits to his people he imparted religious instruc- 
tion and advice, and also relieved the wants of the poor. He seems 
to have possessed uncommonly correct notions of toleration for the 
time, in which he lived. On a public occasion he observed, that it 



568 WAL. 

would not consist with the profession of love to Christ to trouble 
those, that differ from the generality of God's people in lesser things, 
and that those, who are like to live together in heaven at last, 
should endeavor to live peaceably together here. He published 
balm in Gilead to heal Zion's wounds, an election sermon preached 
in Plymouth colony June 1,1669. — Mather's magnalia, iii. 222,223; 
Nonconform, memorial^ i. 149. 

WALLEY (John), a judge of the superior court of Massachu- 
setts, and a member of the council, died at Boston J.muary 1 1, 1712, 
in the sixty ninth year of his age. In the year 1690 he accompani- 
ed sir William Phips in his unsuccessful expedition against Canada, 
being entrusted with the com nand of the land forces. He was one 
of the principal founders of the town and church of Bristol, now in 
Rhode Island. He discharged the high trusts reposed in him by 
his country with ability and fidelity. To his wisdom as a counsellor 
and his impariiulity as a judge, he added an uncommon sweetness 
and candor of spirit, and the various virtues of the Christian. His 
faith was justified by his integrity and his works of piety and char- 
ity. He died in calmness and humble reliance upon the great Me- 
diator for mercy. His journal of the expedition to Canada is pre- 
served in Hutchinson.— Pe7«6(?r^ora*if sermon on his death ; Hutchin- 
son, i, 401, 554 — 566. 

WALTER (Nehemiah), minister of Roxbury, Massachusetts, 
was born in Ireland in December 1663. His father brought him to 
this country about the year 1680, and he was graduated at Harvard 
college in 1 684. He soon afterwards went to Nova Scotia, and lived 
in a French family in order to learn that language. He acquired a 
correct knowledge of it, and thus was enabled in the latter periods 
of his life to preach to a society of French protestants in Boston in 
the absence of their pastor. After his return he pursued his stud- 
ies for some time at Cambridge, where he was appointed a fellow 
6f the college. He here treasured up a fund of human and divine 
learning. He was ordained at Roxbury October 17, 1688, as col- 
league with the apostolic Eliot, who was then in the eighty fourth 
year of his age. After a ministry of more than sixty years Mr. 
Walter died m peace and hope September 17, 1750, in the eighty- 
seventh year of his age. His ministry and that of Mr. Eliot occu- 
pied a space of near one hundred and twenty years. He preached 
for six or seven years after his settlement without his notes in the 
usual manner of the day ; but his memory having been i-npaircvl by 
a fit of sickness, he from that period kept his notes before him. 
Though his voice was feeble his eloc.ition was remarkably good. 
While his utterance was deliberate, with frequent pauses, he was 
pathetic, and the tears of his auditory proved his discourses to be the 
breatlungs of a warm heart. His sermons were remarkable for per- 
spicuity and simplicity. He was so plain and intelligible, that it 
seemed as if any man could preach as he did, but there were feW; 



WAL. 569 

■^ho could equal him. He was eminent in the gift of prayer. It 
was a maxim with him, that those religious principles might well 
be suspected, which could not be introduced in an address to heaven ; 
and he was pleased in observing that those, who in their preaching 
opposed the system of Calvin, were wont to pray in accordance with 
it. His whole life was devoted to the great objects of the Christian 
ministry. He presented a bright example of personal holiness. 
He was humble, modest, affectionate, candid, averse from controver* 
sy, free from censoriousness and bitterness, yet firm and coura- 
geous in the cause of truth. Mr. Whitefield, who saw him in 1740, 
calls him a good old puritan, and says, " I had but little conversa- 
tion with him, my stay was so short; but I remember he told me, 
he was glad to hear I said, that man was half a devil and half a beast." 
In his own preaching it was the care of Mr Walter to humble man, 
and to exalt the grace of God, He published the body of death 
anatomized, an essay on the sense of indwelling sin in the regener- 
ate, 12 mo, 1707 ; a discourse on vain thoughts; the great concern 
of man ; the wonderfulness of Christ, 1713 ; a convention sermon 
on faithfulness in the ministry, 1723; unfruitful hearers detected 
and warned, 1754; a posthumous volume of sermons on the fifty 
filth chapter of Isaiah, with a preface by Mr. Prince and Mr. Fox- 
croft, 8vo, 1755. — Life prefixed to his sermons ; Magnolia, iii. 206; 
Whit efield's jour n. in A**. E. 54 ; Collect, hist. soc. x. l69. 

WALTER (Thomas), minister of Roxbury, Massachusetts, was 
the son of the preceding, and was graduated at Harvard college in 
1713. He was ordained colleague with his father October 19, 1718, 
but died January 10, 1725. He was one of the most distinguished 
scholars and acutest disputants of his day. He seemed to have 
an intuitive knowledge of almost every subject, and he had an 
astonishing power over his thoughts, and command of language. 
He was not a hard student, for he^ loved company ; but so retentive 
was his memory, that he easily made himself master of almost all 
the learning of his uncle. Dr. Cotton Mather, by frequent conver- 
sation with him. In this way he acquired more knowledge than 
most others could have gained by a whole life's diligent study. 
He was a champion of the doctrines of grace. In his last illness he 
was for some time very anxious for the salvation of his soul, as the 
follies of his youth were fresli in his view ; but at length his appre- 
hensions were removed. He said, " I shall be the most glorious 
instance of sovereign grace in all heaven." He published a sermon 
at the lecture for promoting good singing, 1722; the scriptures 
the only rule of faith and practice, 1723 ; and two other occasional 
discourses. — Mather's sermon on his death; Life of JV. Walters Col- 
lect, hist. soc. X. 155, 156. 

WALTER (Thomas), distinguished for his attachment to bota- 
ny, was a native of England. After his arrival in this country he 
became a planter a few miles from Charleston in South Carolina, 



S70 WARv 

and died towardsrthe close of the last century. He published a work 
of a respectable character, entilied, flora Caroliniana, 1788. — Mil- 
ler's retrosfiect.,\. 142. 

WARD (Nathaniel), first minister of Ipswich, Massachusetts, 
was born in Haverhill, England, in 1570, and was the son of John 
Ward, a minister of the estaolished church. He was educated at 
the university of Cambridge and was admitted to the degree of mas- 
ter of arts in 1595. After having been for bome time a student and 
practitioner of the law, he travelled into Holland, Germany, Prussia, 
and Denmark,. At the university of Heidelberg he became ac- 
quainted with the celebrated scholar and divine, David Parens, and 
by conversing with him was induced to abandon the profession, upon 
which he had entered, and to commence the study of divinity. After 
being occupied for some time in theological pursuits at Heidelberg, 
he returned to England, and was settled in the ministry at Standon 
in Hertfordshire. He was ordered before the bishop December 12, 
1631, to answer for his nonconformity ; and refusing to comply with 
the requisitions of the church, he was at length forbidden to continue 
in the exercise of his clerical office In April 1 634 he left his native 
country, and arrived in New England in June. He was soon settled 
as pastor of the church at Aggawam, or Ipswich. In 1635 he re- 
ceived Mr. Norton as his colleague ; but in the following year he 
was by his own request released from his engagement as a minister, 
and Mr. Nathaniel Rogers was settled in his place. The cause of 
his dismission was some natural infirmity, best known to himself, 
which rendered him desirous of not being called upon to preiich so 
frequently, as while he retained his office of pastor. In 1 64 1 he 
was chosen by the freemen without the consent of the magistrates 
to preach the election sermon. In December of the same year the 
general court established one hundred laws, called " the body of 
liberties," which were drawn up by Mr. Ward in 1639, and had been 
committed to the governor and others for consideration. In 1647 he 
returned to England^ and soon after his arrival published a work en- 
itied, " the simple cobler of Aggawam in America," wluch was writ- 
ten during the civil wars of Charles I, and designed to encourage the 
opposers of the king, and the enemies of the established church. 
He resumed his profession, and in 1648 was settled at Shenfield in 
Essex, where he remained till his death in 1653, being al)out eighty 
three years of age. He was a man of great wit and humor. A number 
of amusing anecdotes relating to him are yet remembered in Ips- 
wich. Dr. Cotton Mather found over his mantelpiece the follow- 
ing words engraved, " sobrie, juste, pie, laete." Besides his sim- 
ple cobler of Aggawam, which was printetl at London in 4to, and 
I'eprinted at Boston 1713, and which is a curious specimen of his 
wit and of the vigor ol his mind, he published several other humor- 
ous works ; but they are now fori:;otten, excepting a trifling satire 
upon the preachers in London, entitled, Mercurius, Antimecharius. 



WAR. S71 

or the simple cobler's boy, with his lap full of caveats, &c. 1647.— 
Magnalia, iii. 167 ; Holmes' annals, \. 317, 344 ; Hutchinson, i. 120 j 
Monthly anthology, vii. 341 — 347,IPW»»; Johnson, 66, 67,73,88; 
Winthro/i, 227, 237 ; Remarkables of I. Mather, 187. 

WARD (John), first minister of Haverhill, Massachusetts, was 
the sou of the preceding, and was bom in England November 5, 
1606. After having begun his ministry, he came to this country 
in 1639. He preached for some time at Agamenticus, but in 1641 
was settled at Haverhill, then a new plantation. Here he continued 
till his death December 27, 1693 in the eighty eighth year of his 
age. About a month before this event he preached an excellent 
sermon to his people. His firm health in his advanced age was 
owing to his temperance in eating, drinking, sleeping, and to his 
much exercise. He sometimes walked thirty miles without any 
difficulty. He was very modest and diffident, plain in his dress, 
and prudent in his whole conduct. Wiiile he was an exact gram- 
marian and a thorough divine, he was also an expert physician, and 
a pleasant companion.-— iV/a?Aer*s magnolia, iii. 167—1 66 ; Winthrofif 
321. 

WARD (Samuel), governor of Rhode Islaiid, was elected to 
this office in 1762 and again in 1765 and in 1766. He sustained also 
the office of chief justice of the supreme court. At the commence- 
ment of the controversy with Great Britain he proved himself the 
incorruptible friend of his country. He was a member of the first 
congress in 1774. While attending his duty as a member of this 
body, he died at Philadelphia of the small pox March 26, 1776. He 
was not only a firm patriot, but a sincere Christian, a devout attend- 
ant on the Lord's supper, and a useful member of the church, with 
which he was connected.-p-5fz7^wara',s sermon on his death ; Warren, 
iii. 295. 

WARD (Artemas), the first major general in the American ar- 
my, was graduated at Harvard college in 1743, and was afterwards 
a representative in the legislature, a member of the council, and a 
justice of the court of common pleas for Worcester county, Mas- 
sachusetts. When the war commenced with Great Britain, he was 
appointed by congress first major general June 17, 1775. After 
the arrival of Washington in July, when disposition was made o'f 
the troops for the siege of Boston, the command of the right wing- 
of the army at Roxbury was entrusted to general Ward. He re- 
signed his commission in April 1776, though he continued for some 
time longer in command at the request of Washington. He af- 
terwards devoted himself to the duties of civil life. He was a mem- 
ber of congress both before and after the adoption of the present 
constitution. After a long decline, in which he exhibited the most 
exemplary patience, he died at Shrewsbury October 28, 1800, aged 
seventy three years. He was a man of incorruptible hitegrity. So 
^xcd and unyielding were the principles, which governed him, that 



9n WAR. 

hl3 conscientiousness in lesser concerns was by some ascribed to 
bigotry. His life presented the virtues of the Christian.— iVfa«*c- 
chuaetta sfiy^ JVovember 5, i^i$$ ', Gordon^ i. 486 ; ii. 66 ; Journal* 
of congresa. 

WARH AM (John), first minister of Windsor, Connecticut, was 
an eminent minister in Exeter, England, before he came to this 
country. Having taken the charge of a church, which was gathered 
at Plymouth, consisting of persons about to emigrate to An>eri- 
ca, he accompanied them as teacher and Mr. Maverick as pastor. 
They arrived at Nantasket May 30, 1630, and in June began a set- 
tlement at Dorchester near Boston. In 1635 this church removed 
to Connecticut river and settled at Windsor. Mr. Maverick, while 
preparing to follow them, died February 3, 1636 ; but Mr. Warham 
joined them in September. Here he continued about thirty four 
years till his death April 1, 1670. Though he was distinguished 
for piety and the strictest morals, yet he was sometimes the prey of 
religious melancholy. He was known to administer the Lord's 
supper to his brethren, while he did not participate with them 
through apprehension, that the seals of the new covenant did not 
belong to him. It is supposed, that he was the first minister in 
New England, who used notes in preaching ; yet he was animated 
and energetic in his va^nu&v.-— Mather^ s magnalia, iii. 121 ; Trum- 
bull's Connect, i. 55, 492 ; Collect, hist. aoc. i. 99 ; iii. 74 ; v. 166 
— 168 ; ix. 148, 154 ; Holmes' annala, i. 408. 

WARREN (Joseph), a major general in the American army, 
was bom in Roxbury in 1740, and was graduated at Harvard college 
in 1759. Directing his attention to medical studies, he in a few 
years became one of the most eminent physicians in Boston. But 
he lived at a period, when greater objects claimed his attention, than 
those, which related particularly to his profession. His country 
needed his efTorts, and his zeal and courage would not permit him 
to shrink from any labors or dangers. His eloquence and his talents 
as a writer were displayed on many occasions from the year, in 
which the stamp act was passed, to the commencement of the war. 
He was a bold politician. While many were wavering with regard 
to the measures, which should be adopted, he contended, that every 
kind of taxation, whether external or internal, was tyranny, and 
ought immediately to be resisted ; and he believed that America 
was able to withstand any force, that could be sent against her. From 
the year 1768 he was a principal member of a secret meeting or 
caucus in Boston, winch had great influence on the concerns of the 
country. With all his boldness, and decision, and zeal, he was cir- 
cumspect and wise. In this assembly the plans of defence were 
matured. After the destruction of the tea, it was no longer kept 
secret. He was twice chosen the public orator of the town on the 
anniversary of the massacre, and his orations breathe the energy of 
;i great and daring mind. It was he, who on the evening before the 



WAR. 576 

battle of Lexington obtained information of tlie intended expedi- 
tion against Concord, and at ten o'clock at night despatched an ex- 
press to Messrs. Hancock and Adams^,. who were at Lexington, to 
•warn them of their danger. He himself on the next day, the mem- 
orable nineteenth of April, was very active. It is said in general 
Heath's memoirs, that a ball took off part of his ear lock. In the 
confused state of the army, which soon assembled at Cambridge, be 
had vast influence in preserving order among the troops. After the 
departure of Hancock to congress he was chosen president of the 
provincial congress in his place. Four days previously to the battle 
of Bunker's or Breed's hill he received his commission of major 
general. When the intrenchments were made upon the fatal spot, 
to encourage the men within the lines he went down from Cam- 
bridge and joined them as a volunteer on the eventtul day of the 
battle, June the seventeenth. Just as the retreat commenced, a 
ball struck him on the head and he died in the trenches, aged thirty 
five years. He was the first victim of rank, that fell in the struggle 
with Great Britain. In the spring of 1776 his bones were taken up 
and entombed in Boston, on which occasion, as he had been grand 
master of the free masons in America, a brother mason and an elo- 
quent orator pronounced a funeral eulogy. With zeal in the cause 
of liberty, which blazed. Dr. Warren was yet judicious in counsel, 
and candid and generous towards those, who had different senti- 
ments respecting the controversy. His mind was vigorous, his dis- 
position humane, and big manners affable and engaging. In his in- 
tegrity and patriotism entire confidence was placed. To the most 
undaunted bravery he added the virtues of domestic life, the elo- 
quence of an accomplished orator, and the wisdom of an able states- 
man. He published an oration in 1772 and another in 1775 com- 
memorative of the fifth of March 1770. — Gordon, i. 489 ; ii, 46— 
49, 214 ; Ramsay, i. 205 ; Rush's eulogium ; Warren's hist, of the 
TOflr, i. 222, 223 ; Polyanthos, iii. 217 — 224 ; iv. 172 ; Morton's 
eulogy ; Holmes' annals, ii. 335 ; Collect, hist. soc. v. 107 ; Poetical 
eulogium ; Hardie. 

WARREN (James), a distinguished friend of his country, was 
descended from Richard Warren, one of the first settlers of Plym- 
outh in 1620, and was born in the year 1726. He was graduated 
at Harvard college in 1745. Directing his attention to commercial 
affairs, he was for many years a respectable merchant. About the 
year 1757 his father died and left him a handsome patrimonial estate;, 
which had descended from Richard Warren. He was at this time 
appointed high sheriff as successor of his father, and he retained 
this office till the commencement of the war, notwithstanding the 
active part, which he took in opposing the measures of the Brit- 
ish ministry. In May 1766 he was chosen a member of the general 
court from Plyraoutii, and he uniformly supported the rights of his 
country, Thp government, who knew his abilities aijd feared his 



574 WAS. 

opposition, tried the influence of promises and of tiireats upon him ; 
but his inte,;^rity was not to be corrupted. In 1773 his proposal for 
establishing committees of correspondence was generally adopted. 
When solicited to take a seat in the first congress he declined, not 
then having had the small pox. After the death of his friend, gen- 
eral Warren, he was appointed president of the provincial congress. 
While the army lay at Cambridge in 1775 he was made paymaster 
general, but in the following year, when the troops went to New 
York and three departments were constituted, he resigned. In 1776 
he was appointed major general of the militia, though he never acted 
in that capacity. After the tormation of the constitution of Massa- 
chusetts he was for many years speaker of the house of representa- 
tives. Preferring an active station, in which he could serve his 
country, he refused the office of lieutenant governor, and that of 
judge of the supreme court, but accepted a seat at the navy board, 
the duties of which were very arduous. At the close of the war he 
retired from public employments to enjoy domestic ease and leisure. 
He afterwards however accepted a seat in the council, and the last 
act of his long labors for the benefit of his country was the discharge 
of the duty of an elector of president and vice president in 1804. 
He died at Plymouth November 27, 1808, aged eighty two years. 
Amidst his public cares, which demanded his abilities, and much oc- 
cupied him, he never neglected the more humble duties of domes- 
tic life, or the more exalted claims of religion. While his conduct 
was uniformly upright, his piety was retired, unassuming, and con- 
stant. — Warren's hist, of the war, i. 58, 109, 135, 181, 226, 235 ; 
Gordon, i. 208 ; Marshall, i. ajifiendix, 41 ; ii. 278. 

WASHBURN (Joseph), minister of Farmington, Connecticut, 
"was graduated at Yale college in 1793, and was ordained in 1794 or 
1795. His declining heahh induced him in 1805 to seek a more 
southern climate. While on his passage fi-om Norfolk to Charles- 
ton, he died in tne arms of Mrs. Washburn on the twenty fifth of 
December, and his body was deposited in the ocean. He was one 
of the editors of the Connecticut evangelical magazine. A vol- 
"ume of his sermons has been published since his death in 12mo. 
It is esteemed for the plain and important instructions, which it 
contains. — Assembhfs miss. mai^. ii. 143. 

WASHINGTON (George), commander in chief of the Amer- 
ican army during the war with Great Britain, and first president of 
nhe United States, was the third son of Mr. Augustine Washington, 
and was born at Bridges creek in the county of Westmoreland, Vir- 
ginia, February 22, 1732. His great grandfather had emigrated to 
that place froni the north of England about the year 1657. At the 
age of ten years he lost his father, and the patrimonial estate de- 
scended to his cl<ler brother, Mr. Lawrence Washington, who in 
the year 1740 had i)een engaged in the expedition against Cartha- 
gcna. In honor of tlie British admiral, who commanded the fleet, 



WAS. 575 

e.mployed in that enterprise, the estate was called Mount Vernon. 
At the age of fifteen, agreeably to the wishes of his brother as Well 
as to his own urgent request to enter into the Briiish navy, the place 
of a midshipman in a vessel of war, then stationed on the coast of 
Virguiia, was obtained for him. Every thing was in readiness foD 
his departure, when the fears of a timid and affectionate mothei' 
prevailed upon him to abandon his proijosed career on the ocean, 
and were the means of retaining him upon the land to be the future 
vindicator of his country's rights. All tlie advantages of education, 
wliich he enjoyed, were derived from a private tutor, who instructed 
him in English literature and the general principles of science, as 
well as in morality and religion. After his disappointment with 
regard to entering the navy, he devoted much of his time to the 
study of the mathematics ; and in the practice of his profession as a 
surveyor he had an opportunity of acquiring that information re- 
specting the value of vacant lands, whicn afterwards greatly contrib- 
uted to the increase of his private fortune. At the age of nine- 
teen, when the militia of Virginia were to be trained for actual ser- 
vice, he was appointed an adjutant general with the rank of major. 
It was for a very short time, that he discharged the duties of this 
office. In the year 1753 the plan, formed by France for connecting 
Canaila with Louisiana by a line of posts, and thus of enclosing the 
British colonies and of establishing her influence over the nume- 
rous tribes of Indians on the frontiers, began to be developed. In 
the prosecution of this design possession had been taken of a tract 
of land, then believed to be within the province of Virginia. Mr. 
Dinwiddie, the lieutenant governor, being determined to remonstrate 
against the supposed encroachment, and violation of the treaties be- 
tween the two countries, despatched major Washington through the 
wilderness to the Ohio to deliver a letter to the commanding officer of 
the French, and also to explore the country. This trust of danger and 
fatigue he executed with great ability. He left Williamsburg Oc- 
tober 31, 1753, the very day, on which he received his commission, 
and at the frontier settlement of the English engaged guides to con- 
duct him over the Alleghany mountains. After passing them he 
pursued his route to the Monongahela, examining the country wilh 
a military eye, and taking the most judicious means for securing 
the friendship of the Indians. He selected the forks of the Monon- 
gahela and Alleghany river as a position, which ought to be imme- 
diately possessed and fortified. At this place the French very soon 
erected fort du Quesnc, which fell into the hands of the English in 
1758 and was called by them fort Pitt. Pursuing his way up the 
Alleghany to French creek, he found at a fort upon this stream the 
commanding officer, to whom he delivered the letter from Mr. Din- 
widdie. On his return he encountered great difficulties and dan- 
gers. As the snow was deep and the horses weak from fatigue, he 
left his attendants at the mouth of French creek, and set out on foot. 



576 WAS. 

>yith his papers and provisions in his pack) accompanied only by hi« 
pilot, Mr. Gist. At a place upon the Allegh'any, called Murdering 
town, they fell in with a hostile Indian, who was one of a pvirty then 
lying in wait, and who fired upon them not ten steps distant. They 
took him into custody and kepi him until nine o'clock, and then let 
him go. To avoid the pursuit, which they presumed would be 
commenced in the morning, they travelled all night. On reaching 
the Monongahela, they had a hard day's work to make a raft with a 
hatchet. In attempting to cross the river to reach a trader's house, 
they were enclosed by masses of ice. In order to stop the raft 
major Washington put down his setting pole ; but the ice came 
with such force against it, as to jerk him into the water. He saved 
himself by seizing one of the raft logs. With difficulty they landed 
on an island, where they passed the night. The cold was so severe,' 
that the pilot's hands and feet were frozen. The next day they 
crossed the river upon the ice. Waslungton arrived at Williams- 
burg January 16, 1754. His journal, which evinced the solidity of 
his judgment and his fortitude, was published. 

As the French seemed disposed to remain upon the Ohio, it was 
determined to raise a regiment of three hundred men to maintain 
the claims of the British crown. The command was given to Mr. 
Fry, and major Washington, who was appointed lieutenant colonel, 
inarched with two companies early in April 1754 u) advance of the 
other troops. A few miles west of the Great Meadows he surprised 
a French encampment in a dark, rainy night, and only one man es- 
caped. Before the arrival of the two remaining companies Mr. Fry 
died, and the command devolved on colonel Washington. Being 
joined by two other companies of regular troops from South Caro- 
lina and New York, after erecting a small stockade at the 
Great Meadows, he proceeded towards fort du Quesne, which had 
been built but a short tim , with the intention of dislodging the 
French. He had marched only thirteen miles tothe westernmost foot 
of the Laurel hill, before he received information of the approach 
of the enemy with superior numbers, and was induced to return to 
his stockade. He began a ditch around it, and called it fort Neces- 
sity ; but the next day, July the third, he was attacked by fifteen 
hundred men. His own troops were only about four hundred in 
number. The action commenced at ten in the morning and lasted 
until dark. A part of the Americans fought within tlie fort, and a 
part in the ditch filled with mud and water. Colonel Washington 
was himself on the outside of the fort during the whole day. The 
enemy fought under cover of tlie trees and high grass. In the 
course of the night articles of capitulation were agreed upon. The 
garrison were allowed to retain their arms and baggage, and to 
march unmolested to the inhabited parts of Virginia. The loss of 
the Americans in killed and wounded was supposed to be about a 
hundred, and that of the enemy about two hundred. In a few 



WAS. 577 

tiionths afterwards orders were received for settling the rank of the 
officers, and those, who were commissioned by the king, being di- 
rected to take rank of the provincial officers, colonel Washington 
indignantly resigned his commission. He now retired to Mount 
Vernon, that estate by the death of his brother having devolved up- 
on him. But in the spring of 1755 he accepted an invitation from 
general Braddock to enter his family as a volunteer aid de camp in 
his expedition to the Ohio. He proceeded with him to Wills' creek, 
afterwards called fort Cumberland, in April. After the troops had 
marched a few miles from this place, he was seized with a raging 
fever ; but refusing to remain behind he was conveyed in a covered 
waggon. By his advice tvi^elve hundred men w^ere detached in or* 
der by a rapid movement to reach fort du Quesne before an expected 
reenforcement should be received at that place. These disencum- 
bered troops were commanded by Braddock himself, and colonel 
Washington, though still extremely ill, insisted upon proceeding 
with them. After they arrived upon the Monongahela he advised 
the general to employ the ranging companies of Virginia to scour 
the woods and to prevent ambuscades ; but his advice was not fol- 
lowed. On the ninth of July, when the army was within seven 
miles of fort du Quesne, the enemy commenced a sudden and fu- 
rious attack, being concealed by the wood and high grass. In a 
short time colonel Washington was the only aid, that was unwound- 
ed, and on hi-.n devolved the whole duty of carrying the orders of 
the commander in chief. He was cool and fearless. Though he 
had two horses killed under him, and four balls through his coat, 
he escaped unhurt, while every other officer on horseback was ei- 
ther killed or wounded. Doctor Craik, the physician, who at- 
tended him in his last sickness, was present in this battle, and says, 
" I expected every moment to see him fall. — Nothing but the su- 
perintending care of Providence could have saved him from the 
fate of all around him." After an action of three hours the t^oops 
gave way in all directions, and colonel Washington and two others 
brought off Braddock, who had been mortally wounded. He attempt- 
ed to rally the retreating troops ; but, as he sws himself, it was like 
endeavoring " to stop the wild bears of the mountains " The con- 
duct of the regular troops was most cowardly. The enemy were 
-few in numbers and had no expectation of victory, In a sermon 
occasioned by this expedition the reverend Dr. Davies of Hanover 
county thus prophetically expressed himself ; " as a remarkable in- 
stance of patriotism I may point out to the publicthat heroic youth, 
colonel Washington, whom I cannot but hope Providence has hith- 
erto preserved in so signal a manner for some important service to 
his country." For this purpose he was indeed preserved, and at 
the end of twenty years he began to render to his country more im- 
portant services, than the minister of Jesus could have anticipated. 
From 1755 to 1758 he commanded a regiment, which was raised 
74 



578 WAS. 

for the protection of the frontiers, and during this period he wa» 
incessantly occupied in efforts to shield the exposed settlements 
from the incursions of the savages. His exertions were in a great 
degree ineffectual in consequence of the errors and the pride of 
government, and of the impossibility of guarding with a few troops 
an extended territory from an enemy, which was averse to open 
warfare. He in tnc most earnest manner recommended offensive 
measures as the only meihod of giving complete protection to the 
scattered settlements. In the year 1758 to his great joy it wa»3 de- 
termined to undertake another expedition against fort du Quesne, 
and he engaged in it with zeal. Early in July the troops were as- 
sembled at fort Cumberland ; and hereagainstall the remonstrances 
and arguments of colonel Washiiigton general Forbes resolved to 
open a new road to the Ohio insteid of taking the old route. Such 
was the predicted delay, occasioned by this measure, that in No- 
vember it was resolved not to proceed further during that cam- 
paign. But intelligence of the weakness of the garrison induce4 
an alteration of the plan of passing the winter in the wilderness. 
By slow marches the army was enabled on the twenty fifth of No- 
vember to reach fort du Quesne, of which peaceable possession was 
taken, as the enemy on the preceding night after setting it on fire 
had abandoned it, and proceeded down the Ohio. The works in 
this place were repaired, and its name was changed to that of fort 
Pitt. The, success of the expedition was to be attributed to the 
British fleet, which intercepted reenforcenients, destined for Cana- 
da, and to events in the northern colonies. The great object, which 
he had been anxious to effect, being now accomplished, and his 
health being enfeebled, colonel Washington resigned his commission 
as commander in chief of all the troops raised in Virginia. 

Soon after his resignation he was married to the widow of Mr. 
Custis, a yoimg lady, to whom he had been for some time strongly 
attac/ied, and who to a large fortune and a fine person added those 
amiable accomplishments, which fill with silent felicity the scenes 
of domestic life. His attention for several years was principally- 
directed to the management of his estate, which had now become 
considerable. He had nine thousand acres under his own manage- 
ment. So great a part was cultivated, that in one year he raised 
seven thousand busl\els of whe.it, and ten thousand of Indian com. 
His slaves and other persons, employed by him, amounted to near 
a thousand ; and the woollen and linen cloth necessary for their 
use was chiefly manufactured on the estate. He was at this pe- 
riod a respectable member of the legislature of Virginia, in which 
he took a decided part in opposition to the principle of taxation, 
asserted by the British parliamen*^. He also acted as a judge of a 
county court. In 1774 he was elected a member of the first con- 
gress, and was placed on all those committees, whose duty it waste 
-make arrangements for defence. In the following year, after the 



WAS. 579 

battle of Lexington, when it was determined by congress to resort 
to arms, colonel Washington was unanimously elected commander 
in chief of the army of the united coionies. All were satisfied as to 
his qualifications, and the delegates from New England were par- 
ticularly pleased with his election, as it would tend to unite the 
southern colonies cordially in the war. He accepted the appoint- 
ment with diffidence, and expressed his intention of receiving no 
compensation for his services, and only a mere discharge ot his ex- 
penses. He immediately rep.dred to Cambridge in the neighbor- 
hood of Boston, where he arrived on the second of July. He formed 
the army into three divisions in order the most effectually to enclose 
the enemy, entrusting the division at Roxbury to general Ward, 
the division on Prospect and Winter hills to general Lee, and com- 
manding himself the centre at Cambridge. Here he had to strug- 
gle with great difficulties, with the Avaut of ammunition, clothing, 
and magazines, defect of arms and discipline, and the evils of short 
enlistments ; but instead of yielding to despondence he bent the 
whole force of his mind to overcome them. He soon made the 
alarming discovery, that there was only sufficient powder on hand 
to furnish the army with nine cartridges for eacn man. With the 
greatest caution to keep this fact a secret, the utmost exertions were 
employed to procure a supply. A vessel, which was despatched to 
Africa, obtained in exchange for New England rum all the gun- 
powder in tne British factories ; and in the beginning of winter cap- 
tain Manly captured an ordnance brig, which furnished the Ameri- 
can army with the precise articles, of which it was in the greatest 
want. In September general Washington despatched Arnold on 
an expedition aprainst Quebec. In February 1776 he proposed to a 
council of his officers to cross the ice and attack the enemy in Boston, 
but they unanimously disapproved of the daring measure. It was 
however soon resolved to take possession of the heights of Dorches- 
ter. This wtts done without discovery on the night of the fourth of 
March, and on the seventeenth the enemy found it necessary to 
evacuate the town. The recovery of Boston induced congress to 
pass a vote of thanks to general Washington and his brave army. 

In the belief, that the efforts of the British would be directed to- 
wards the Hudson, he hastened the armyEto New York, where he 
himself arrived on the fourteenth of April. He made every exer- 
tion to fortify the city, and attention was paid to the forts in the 
highlands. While he met the most embarrassing difficulties, a 
plan was formed to assist the enemy in seizing his person, and some 
of his own guards engaged in the conspiracy ; but it was discovered, 
and some, who were concerned in it, were executed. In the be- 
ginning of July general Howe landed his troops at Staten Island. 
His brother, lord Howe, who commanded the fleet, soon arrived ; 
and as both were commissioners for restoring peace to the colonies, 
the latter addressed a letter upon the subject to " George Washing- 



Bm WAS. 

ton, esquire ;'* but the general refused to receive it, as it did not 
acknowici'ge the public character, with which he was invested by con- 
gress, in winch character only he could hiive any intercourse with 
his lordship. Another letter was sent to " George Washington, &c. 
&c. &c." This for the same reason was rejected. After the disas- 
trous battle of Brooklyn on the twenty seventh of August, in which 
Stirling and Sullivan were taken prisoners, and of which he was only 
3 spectator, he withdrew the troops from Long Island, and in a few 
days he resolved to withdraw from New York. At Kipp's bay, 
about three miles from the city, some works had been thrown up to 
oppose the eneiny ; but on tiieir approach the American troops 
fled with precipitation. Washington rode towards the lines, and 
made every exertion to prevent the disgraceful flight. He drew 
his sword, and threatened to run the cowards through ; he cocked 
and snapped his pistols ; but it was all in vuin. Such was the state 
of his mind at tliis moment, that he turned his horse towards the 
advancing enemy apparently with tl\e intention of rushing upon 
death. His aids now seized the bridle of his horse and rescued him 
from destruction. New York was on the same day, September the 
fifteenth, evacuated. In October he retreiited to the White Plains , 
where on tlie twenty eighth a considerable action took place, in 
which the Americans were overpowered. After the loss of forts 
Washington and Lee he passed into New Jersey in November, and 
was pursued by a triumphant and numerous enemy. His army 
did not amount to three thousand, and it Avas daily diminishing ; his 
men as the winter commenced were barefooted and almost naked, 
destitute of tents and of utensils, with which to dress their scanty 
provisions ; and every circumstance tended to fill the mind with 
despondence. But general Washington was undismayed and firm. 
He showed himself to his enfeebled army with a serene and unem- 
barrassed countenance, and they were inspired with the resolution 
of their commander. On the eighth of December he was obliged 
to cross the Delaware ; but he had the precaution to secure the 
boats for seventy miles upon the river. While -the British were 
waiting for the ice to afford them a passage, as his own army had 
been reenforced by several thousand men, he formed the resolution 
of carrying the cantonments of the enemy by surprise. On the 
night of the twenty fifth of December he crossed the river nine 
miles above Trenton, in a storm of snow mingled with hailanH rain, 
with about two thousand and four hundred men. Two other detach- 
ments were unable to effect a passage. In the morning precisely at 
eight o'clock he surprised Trenton and took a thousand Hessians 
prisoners, a thousand stand of arms, and six field pieces. Twenty of 
of the enemy were killed. Of the Americans two privates were 
killed, and two frozen to death ; and one oflicer and three or 
four privates were wounded. On the same day he recrossed the 
Delaware with the fruits of his enterprise ; but in two or three 



WAS. 581 

days passed again into New Jersey, and concentrated his forc- 
es, amounting to five thousand, at Trenton. On the approach of a 
superior enemy under Cornwallis January 2, 1777, he drew up his 
men behind Assumpinck creek. He expected an attack in the 
morning, which would probably result in a ruinous defeat. At this 
moment, when it was hazardous if not impracticable to return into 
Pennsylvania, he formed the resolution of getting into the rear of 
the enemy and thus slop them in then' progress towards Philadel- 
phia. In the night he silently decamped, taking a circuitous route 
through Allen's town to Princeton. A sudden change of the weath- 
er to severe cold rendered the roads favorable for his march. About 
sunrise his van met a British detachment on its way to join Corn- 
wallis, and was defeated by it ; but as he came up he exposed him- 
self to every danger and gained a victory. With three hundred 
prisoners he then entered Princeton. During this march many of 
his soldiers were without shoes, and their feet left the marks of 
blood upon the frozen ground. This hardship and their want of 
repose induced him to lead his army to a place of security on the 
road to Morristown. Cornwallis in the morning broke up his camp 
and alarmed for his stores at Brunswick urged the pursuit. Thus 
the military genius of the American commander, under the bless- 
ing of divine Providence, rescued Philadelphia from the threatened 
danger, obliged the enemy, which had overspread New Jersey, to 
return to the neighborhood of New York, and revived the despond- 
ing spirit of his country. Having accomplished these objects, fie 
retired to Morristown, where he caused his whole army to be inoc- 
ulated with the small pox, and thus was freed from the apprehen- 
sion of a calamity, which might impede his operations during the 
next campaign. 

On the last of May he removed his army to Middlebrook, about 
ten miles from Brunswick, where he fortified himself very strongly. 
An ineffectual attempt was made by sir William Howe to draw him 
from his position by marching towards Philadelphia ; but after 
Howe's return to New York he moved towards the Hudson in or- 
der to defend the passes in the mountains in the expectation that a 
junction with Burgoyne, who was then upon the lakes, would be at- 
tempted. After the British general sailed from New York and en- 
tered the Chesapeak in August, general Washington marched im- 
mediately for the defence of Philadelphia. On the eleventh of 
September he was defeated at Brandywine with the loss of nine 
hundred in killed and wounded. A few days afterward, as he was 
pursued, he turned upon the enemy, determined upon another en- 
gagement ; but a heavy rain so damaged the arms and ammunition^ 
that he was under the absolute necessity of again retreating. Phila- 
delphia was entered by Cornwallis on the twenty sixth of Septem- 
ber. On the fourth of October the American commander made a 
%veU planned attack upon the British camp at Germantown ; but in 



582 WAS. 

Consequence of the darkness of the morning, and the imperfect dis» 
ciplinc of his troops, it terminated in tlie loss of twelve hundred 
men in killed, wounded, and prisoners. In December he went into 
winter quarters at Valley For^c on the west side of the Schuylkill, 
between twenty and thirty miles from Philudclphia. Here his ar- 
my was in the greatest distress for want ol provisions, and he was 
reduced to the necessity of sending out parties to seize what 
they could find. About the same time a combination, in which 
some members of congress were engaged, was formed to remove 
the commander in chief and to appoint in his place Gates, Avhose 
successes of late had given him a high reputation. But the name of 
Washington was too dear to tlie great body of Americans to admit 
of such a change. Notwithstanding the discordant materials, of 
which his army was composed, there was something in his charac- 
ter, which enabled him to attach both his officers and soldiers so 
strongly to him, that no distress could weaken their affection, nor 
impair the veneration, in which he was generally held. Without 
this attachment to i.im the army must have been dissolved. Gen- 
eral Conway, who was concerned in tuis faction, being wounded in a 
duel with general Cadv/allader, and thinking his wound mortal, 
wrote to general Washington, " you are, in my eyes, the great and 
good man." On the first of February 1778 there were about four 
thousand men in camp unfit for duly for want of clothes. Of these 
scarcely a man had a pair of shoes. The hospitals also were filled 
with the sick. At this time the enemy, if they had marched oui of 
their winter quarters, would easily have dispersed the American ar- 
my. The apprehension of the approach of a French fleet inducing 
the British to concentrate their forces, when they evacuated Phila- 
delphia on the seventeenth of June and marched towards New York, 
general Wasliington followed them. Contrary to tlie advice of a 
council he engaged in the battle of Monmouth on the twenty eighth, 
the result of which made an impression favorable to the cause of 
Ameiica. He slept in his cloak on the field of battle, intending to 
renew the attack the next morning, but at midnight the British 
marched off in such silence, as not to be discovered. Their loss in 
killed was about three hundred, and that of the Americans sixty 
nine. As the campaign now closed in the middle states, the Ameri- 
can army went into winter quarters in the neighl)orho'.)d of the high- 
lands upon the Hudson. Thus after the vicissitudes of two years 
both armies were brought back to the point, from which they set 
out. During tlie year 1779 general Washington remained in the 
neighborhood of New York. In January 1780, in a winter mem- 
orable for its severity, his utmost exertions were necessary to save 
the army from dissolution. The soldiers in general submitted with 
heroic patience to the want of provisions and clothes. At one time 
they eat every kind of horse food but hay. Their suftV rings at 
length weie so ^.reat, that in March two of the Coimecticut regi- 



WAS. 583 

ments mutinied, but the mutiny was suppressed and the ringleaders 
secured. In September the treachery oi" Arnold was delected. In 
the winter ot 1781, such were again the privations of the army, that 
a part of the Pennsylvania line revolted, and marched home. Such 
however was still their patriotism, that they delivered up some 
British emissaries to general Wayne, who hanged them as spies. 
Committing the defence of the posts on the Hudson to general 
Heath, general Washmgton in August marched with count Rocham- 
beau for the Chesapeak to cooperate with the French fleet there.. 
The siege of Yorktovvn commenced on the twenty eighth of Sep- 
tember, and on the nineteenth of October he reduced Cornwallis to 
the necessity of surrendering with upwards of seven thousand men 
to the combined armies of America and France. The day after the 
capitulation he ordered, that those, who were under arrest, should 
be pardoned, and that divine service in acknowledgment of the in- 
terposition of Providence should be peiibrmed in all the brigades 
and divisions. This event filled America with joy and was the 
means of terminating the war. 

Few events of importance took place in 1782. In March 1783 
he exhibited his chai-acteristic firmness and decision in opposing an 
attempt to produce a mutiny by anonymous letters. His address to 
his officers on the occasion displays in a remarkable degree hispi'u- 
dence and the correctness of his judgment. When he began to 
read it he found himself in some degree embarrassed by the im- 
perfection of his sight. Taking out his spectacles he said, " these 
eyes, my friends, have grown dim, and these locks white in the ser- 
vice of my country ; yet I have never doubted her justice." He only 
could have repressed the spirit, which was breaking forth. On the 
nineteenth of April a cessation of hostilities was proclaimed in the A- 
merican camp. In June he addressed a letter to the governors of the 
several states, congratulating them on the result of the contest in the 
establishment of independence, and recommending an indissoluble 
union of the states under one federal head, a sacred regai-d to public 
justice, the adoption of a proper peace establishment, and the prev- 
alence of a friendly disposition among the people of the several 
states. It was with keen distress, as well as with pride and admi- 
ration, that he saw his brave and veteran soldiers,-who fe»d suffered 
so much, and who had borne the heat and burden of the war, re- 
turning peaceably to their homes without a settlement of their ac- 
counts, or a farthinsr of money in their pockets. On the tvi^enty 
filth of November NeAV York was evacuated, and he entei'ed it ac- 
companied by governor Clinton and many respectable citizens. On 
the fourth of December he took his farewell of his brave comrades 
in arms. At noon the principal officers of the army assembled at 
Frances' tavern, and their beloved commander soon entered the 
room. His emotions were too strong to be concealed. Filling a 
glass with wine, he turned to Ihcm and said, " with a hcMi. full o1 



684, WAS. 

love and gratitude, I now take leave of you ; I most devoutly wishj 
that your latter days may be as prosperous and huppy, as your for- 
mer ones have been glorious and honorable." Having drunk, he 
added, '' I cannot come to each of you to take my leave, but shall be 
obliged to you, if each of you will come and take me by the hand." 
General Knox, being nearest, turned to him. Incapable of utter- 
ance, general Washington grasped his hand, and embraced him. In 
the same affectionate manner he took his leave of each succeeding 
officer. In every eye was the tear of dignified sensibility, and not a 
word was articulated to interrupt the silence and the tenderness of 
the scene. Ye men, who delight in blood, slaves of ambition ! 
When your work of carnage was finished, could ye thus part with 
your companions in crime ? Leaving the room, general Washing- 
ton passed through the corps of light infantry, and walked to White 
hall, where a barge waited to carry him to Powles' hook. The 
whole company follov^'ed in mute procession with dejected counte- 
nances. When he entered the barge, he turned to them, and 
waving his hat bade them a silent adieu, receiving from them the 
same last, affectionate compliment. On the twenty third of De- 
cember he resigned his commission to congress, then assembled at 
Annapolis. He delivered a short address on the occasion, in which he 
said, " I consider it an indispensable duty to close this last solemn act 
of my official life by commending the interests of our dearest country 
to the protection of Almighty God, and those, who have the superin- 
tendence of them, to his holy keeping." He then retired to Mount 
Vernon to enjoy again the pleasures of domestic life. Here the 
expressions of the gratitude of his countrymen in affectionate ad- 
dresses poured in upon him, and he received every testimon y of 
respect and veneration. 

In his retirement however he could not overlook the public inter- 
ests. He was desirous of opening by water carriage a communica- 
tion between the Atlantic and the western portions of our country in 
order to prevent the diversion of trade down the Mississippi, and to 
Canada, from which he predicted consequences injurious to the 
union. Through his influence two companies were formed for pro- 
moting inland navigation. The legislature of Virginia presented 
him with t h r ee ' hu i wlred shares in them, which he appiopriated to 
public uses. In the year 1786 he was convinced, with other states- 
men, of the necessity of substituting a more vigorous peneral gov- 
ernment in the place of the impotent articles of confederation. Still 
he was aware of the danger of running from one extreme to another. 
He exclaims in a letter to Mr, Jay, " what astonishing changes a 
few years are capable of producing ! I am told, that even respect- 
able characters speak of a monarchical form of government without 
horror. From thinking proceeds speaking ; thence to acting is of- 
ten but a single step. But how irrovoc^iblc, and tremendous I 
What a triumph for our enemies to verify their predictions ! What 



WAS. 585 

a triumph for the advocates of despotism to find, that we are inca- 
pable of governing ourselves, and that systems, founded on the ba- 
sis of equal liberty, are merely ideal and fallacious 1" In the follow- 
ing year he was persuaded to take a seat in the convention, which 
formed the present constitution of the United States, and he pre- 
sided in that body. In 1789 he was unanimously elected the first 
president of the United States. It was with great reluctance, that 
he accepted this office. His feelings, as he said himself, were like 
those of a culprit, going to the place of execution. But the voice of 
a whole continent, the pressing recommendation of his particular 
friends, and the apprehension, that he should otherwise be consider- 
ed as unwilling to hazard his reputation in executing a system, 
which he had assisted in forming, determined him to accept the 
appointment. In April he left Mount Vernon to proceed to New 
York, and to enter on the duties of his high office. He every where 
received testimonies of respect and love. At Trenton the gentler 
sex rewarded him for his successful enterprise and the protection, 
which he afforded them twelve years before. On the bridge over 
the creek, which passes through the town, was erected a triumphal 
arch, ornamented with laurels and flowers, and supported by thir- 
teen pillars, each encircled with wreaths of evergreen. On the 
front of the arch was inscribed in large, gilt letters 

THE DEFENDER OF THE MOTHERS 

WILL BE THE 
PROTECTOR OF THE DAUGHTERS. 
At this place he was met by a party of matrons, leading their daugh- 
ters, who were dressed in white, and who with baskets of flowers in 
their hands sung with exquisite sweetness the following ode, writ- 
ten for the occasion. 

Welcome, mighty chief, once more 

W^elcome to this grateful shore ; 

Now no mercenary foe 

Aims again the fatal blow, 

Aims at THEE the fatal blow. 

Virgins fair and matrons grave, 
Those thy conquering arms did save, 
Build for thee triumphal bowers ; 
Strew, ye fair, his way with flowers, * 

Strew your hero's way with flowers. 

At the last line the flowers were strewed before him. After re- 
ceiving such proofs of aff"ectionate attachment he arrived at New 
Yoi'k, and was inaugurated first president of the United States on 
the thirtieth of April. In making the necessary arrangements of 
his household he publicly announced, that neither visits of business 
nor of ceremony would be expected on Sunday, as he wished to reserve 
that day sacredly to himself. At the close of his first term of four 
75 



586 WAS. 

years he prepared a valedictory address to the American people, 
anxious to return attain to the scenes of domestic life ; but tlie 
earnest entreaties of his friends and the peculiar situation of his 
country induced him to be a candidate for a second election. Dur- 
inc!: his administration of eight years the labor of establishing the 
different departments of a new government was accomplished j 
and he exhibited the greatest firmness, wisdom, and independence. 
He was an American, aiid he chose not to involve his country in 
the contests of Europe. He accordingly with the unanimous ad- 
vice of his cabinet, consisting of Messrs. Jeffei'son, Hamilton, 
Knox, and Randolph, issued a proclamation of neutrality April 22, 
1793, a few days after he heard of the commencement of the war 
between England and France. Tnis measure contributed in a great 
degree to the prosperity of America. Its adoptioii was the more 
honorable to the president, as the general syiopathy was in favor of 
the sister republic, against whom it was said Great Britain had com- 
menced the war for the sole purpose of imposing upon her a mo- 
narchical form of government. He preferred the peace and welfare of 
his country to the breath of popular applause. Another act, in wJiich 
he proved himself to be less regardful of the public partialities and 
prejudices, than of what he conceived to be the public good, was the 
ratification of the Briti^i treaty. The English government had 
neglected to surrender the western' posts, and by commercial re- 
strictions and in other ways had evinced a hostile spirit towards this 
country. To avert the calamity of anotlier war Mr. Jay was nom- 
inated as envoy extraordinary in April 1794. In June 1795 the 
treaty, which Mr. Jay had made, was submitted to the senate, and 
•was ratified by that body on the condition, that one article should be 
altered. While the president was deliberating upon it, an incor- 
rect copy of the instrument was made public by a senator, and the 
whole country was thrown into a state of extreme irritation. At 
this period, he in August conditionally ratified it, and in February 
1796, when it was returned from his Britannic majesty with the 
proposed alteraiion, he declared it to be the law of the land. After 
this transaction the house of representatives requested him to lay 
before them the papers relating to the treaty, but he with great in- 
dependence refused to comply with their request, as they could 
have no claim to an inspection of them except upon a vote of im- 
peachment, and as a compliance would establish a dangerous prec- 
edent. He had before this shown a dis[josition to maintain the 
avithoritv, vested in his office, by declining to affix his signature to a 
bill, which had passed both houses. 

As the period for a new election of a president of the United States 
approached, and after plain indications that the public voice woidd 
be in his favor, and when he probaWy would be chosen for tlie third 
time unanimously, he determined irrevocably to withdraw to the 
shades of private life. He published in September 1796 his fare- 



WAS. 587 

well address to the people of the United States, which ought to Ipe 
engraven upon the hearts ot his countrymen. In the most earnest 
and affectionate manner he called upon them to clierish an immove- 
able attachment to the national union, to watch for its preservation 
with jealous anxiety, to discountenance even the suggestion, that it 
could in any event be abandoned, and indignantly to frown upon the 
first dawning of every attempt to alienate any porUon ot our coun- 
try from the rest. Overgrown military establishments he repre- 
sented as particularly hostile to republican liberty. While he rec- 
ommended the most implicit obedience to the acts of the establish- 
ed government, and reprobated all obstructions to the execution of 
the laws, all combinations and associations, under whatever plausi- 
ble character, with the real design to direct, control, counteract, or 
awe the regular deliberation and action of the constituted authori- 
ties ; he wished also to guard against the spirit of innovation upon 
the principles of the constitution. Aware that the energy of the 
system might be enfeebled by alterations, he thought that no change 
should be made without an evident necessity, and that in so exten- 
sive a country as much vigor as is consistent with liberty is indis- 
pensable. On the other hand he pointed out the danger of a real 
despotism by breaking down the partitions between the several de- 
partments of government, by destroying the reciprocal checks, and 
consolidating the different powers. Against the spirit of party, so 
peculiarly baneful in an elective government, he uttered his most 
solemn remonstrances, as well as against inveterate antipathies or 
passionate attachments in respect to foreign nations. While he 
thought that the jealousy of a free people ought to be constantly and 
impartially awake against the insidious wiles of foreign influence, he 
wished that good faith and justice should be observed towards all 
nations, and peace and harmony cultivated. In his opinion, honesty 
no less in public than in private affairs is always the best policy. 
Providence, he believed, had connected the permanent felicity of a 
nation with its virtue. Other subjects, to which he alluded, were 
the importance of credit, of economy, of a reduction of the public 
debt, and of literary institutions ; above all he recommended I'eligion 
and morality as indispensably necessary to political prosperity. " In 
vain," says he, " would that man claim the tribute of patriotisni, 
who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, 
these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens." Bequeath- 
ing these counsels to his countrymen he continued in office till the 
fourth of March 1797, when he attended the inauguration of his 
successor, Mr. Adams, and with complacency saw him invested 
with the powers, which had for so long a time been exercised by 
himself. He then retired to Mount Vernon, giving to the world an 
example, most humiliating to its emperors and kings ; the example 
of a man, voluntarily disrobing himself of the highest authority, and 
returning to private life with a character, having upon it no stain of 



58^ WAS. 

ambition, of covetousness, of profusion, of luxury, of oppression, or 
of injustice. 

It was now, that the soldier, the statesman, and the patriot hoped 
to repose himself after the toils of so many years. But he had not 
been long in retirement before the outrages of republican France 
induced our government to raise an army, of which in July 1798 
he was appointed commander in chief. Though he accepted the 
appointment, his services were not demanded, and he himself did 
not believe, that an invasion would take place. Pacific overtures 
■were soon made by the French directory, but he did not live to see 
the restoration of peace. On Friday, December 13, 1799, while 
attending to some improvements upon his estate, he was exposed 
to a light ruin, which wetted his neck and hair. Unapprehensive 
of danger he passed the afternoon in his usual manner ; but at 
night he was seized with an inflammatory affection of the windpipe. 
The disease commenced with a violent ague, accompanied with 
some pain and a sense of stricture in the throat, a cough, and a dif- 
ficult deg.utition, which were soon succeeded by fever and a quick 
and laborious respira'don. About twelve or fourteen ounces of blood 
were taken from him. In the morning his fanuly physician, doctor 
Craik, was sent for ; but the utmost exertions of medical skill were 
applied in vain The appointed time of his death was near. Be- 
lieving from the commencement of his complaint, that it would be 
mortal, a few hours before his departure, after repeated efforts to be 
understood, he succeeded in expressing a desire, that he might be 
permitted to die without being disquieted by unavailing attempts to 
rescue him irom his fate. After it became impossible to get any 
thing down his throat, he undressed himself and went to bed, there 
to die. To his friend and physician, who sat on his bed, and took 
his head in his lap, he said with difficulty, " doctor, I am dying, and 
have been dying for a longtime ; but I am not afraid to die." Res- 
piration became more and more contracted and imperfect until half 
past eleven on Saturday night, when, retaining the full possession of 
his intellect, he expired without a struggle. Thus on the fourteenth 
of December 1799, in the sixty eighth year of his age, died the 
father of his country, " the man, first in war, first in peace, and first 
in the hearts of his fellow citizens." This event spread a gloom 
over the co\mtry, and the tears of America proclaimed the services 
and virtues of the hero and sage, and exhibited a people not insensi- 
ble to his worth. The senate of the United States in an address to 
the president on this melancholy occasion indulged their patriotic 
pride, while they did not transgress the bo\mds of truth in speaking 
of their WASHINGTON. " Ancient and modern names," said 
they, '* are diminished before him. Greatness and guilt have too 
often been allied ; but his fimie is whiter than it is brilliant. The 
destroyers of nations stood abasncd at the majesty of his virtues. 
It reproved the intemperance of tlicir ambition, and darkened the 



WAS. 589 

splendor of victory. The scene is closed, and we are no longer 
anxious lest misfortune should sully his glory ; he has travelled on 
to the end of his journey, and carried with him an increasing weight 
of honor ; he has deposited it safely where misfortune cannot tar- 
nish it, where malice cannot blast it." 

General Washington was rather above the common stature ; his 
frame was robust, and his constitution vigorous. His exterior cre- 
ated in the beholder the idea of strength united with manly grdce- 
fulness. His eyes were of a gray color, and his complexion light. 
His manners were rather reserved than free. His person and whole 
deportment exhibited an unaffected and indescribable dignity, un- 
mingled with haughtiness, of which all, who approached him, were 
sensible. The attachment ot those, who possessed his friendship, 
was ardent but always respectful. His temper was humane, benev- 
olent, and conciliatory ; but there was a quickness in his sensibility 
to any thing apparently offensive, which experience had tau;^ht iiim 
to watch and correct. He made no pretensions to vivacity or wit. 
Judgment rather than genius constituted the most piominent feature 
of his character. As a military man he was brave, enterprising, 
and cautious. At the head of a multitude, whom it was sometimes 
impossible to reduce to proper discipline before the expiration of 
their time of service, and having to struggle almost continually with 
the want of supplies, he yet was able to contend with an adversary 
superior in numbers, well disciplined, and completely equipped, and 
was the means of saving his country. The measure of his caution 
has by some been represented as too abundant ; but he sometimes 
formed a plan, which his brave officers thought was too adventurous, 
and sometimes contrary to their advice he engaged in battle. If 
his name is not rendered illustrious by splendid achievements, it is 
not to be attributed to the want of military enterprise. He conduct- 
ed the war with that consummate prudence and wisdom, which the 
situation of his country and the state of his army demanded. He 
also possessed a firmness of resolution, which neither dangers nor 
difficulties could shake. In his civil administration he exhibited 
repeated proofs of that practical good sense, of that sound judgment, 
which is the most valuable quality of the human mind. More than 
once he put his whole popularity to hazard in pursuing measures, 
which Avere dictated by a sense of duty, and which he thought would 
promote the welfare of his country. In speculation he was a real 
republican, sincerely attached to the constitution of the United States, 
and to that system of equal, political rights, on which it is founded. 
Real liberty, he thought, was to be preserved only by preserving the 
authority of the laws, and maintaining the energy of government. 
Of incorruptible integrity, his ends were always upright, and the 
means, which he employed, were always pure. He was a politician, 
to whom wiles were absolutely unknown. When any nicasiire of 
importance was proposed, he sought information and was ready to 



590 WAS. 

hear, without prejudice, wliatever could be said in relation to the 
subject ; he suspended his judgment till it was necessary to decide ; 
but after his decision had been thus deliberately made, it was seldom 
shaken, and he was as active and persevering in executing, as he 
had been cool in forming it. He iwssessed an innate and unassum- 
ing modesty, which adulation would have offended, which the plau- 
dits of millions could not betray into indiscretion, and which was 
blended with a high sense of personal dignity, and a just conscious- 
ness of the respect, which is due to station. 

With regard to the religious character of general Washington 
there have been different opinions. In the extracts from some of 
his private letters, which have been published by the historian of his 
life, the name of the Supreme Being is once or twice introduced in 
a manner, which in common conversation is deemed irreverent. It 
is also understood, that in a few instances during the war, particular- 
ly when he met general Lee retreating in the battle of Monmouth, 
his language was unguarded in this respect. It may not be impos- 
sible, that a good man in a moment of extreme irritation should ut- 
ter a profane expression ; but perhaps it is less possible, that such a 
man, when his passion has passed away, and his sober recollections 
have returned, should not repent bitterly of his irreverence to the 
name of God. On the other hand, general Washington, when at 
the head of the army, issued public orders, calling upon his officers 
to discountenance the habit of profanity ; he speaks in his writings 
of" the pure and benign light of revelation," and of the necessity of 
imitating" the charity, humility, and pacific temper of mind, which 
were the characteristics of the Divine Author of our blessed relig- 
ion ;" he gratefully acknowledged the interposions of Providence in 
favor of this country ; his life was upright and virtuous; he princi- 
pally supported an episcopal church in the neighborhood of Mount 
Vernon, where he constantly attended public worship ; during the 
war he not unfrecjucntly rode ten or twelve miles from camp for 
the benefit of the institutions of religion ; and it is believed, that he 
every day had his hour of retirement from the world for the pur- 
pose of private devotion. 

General Washington was blessed with abundant wealtii, and he 
v/as not ignorant of the pleasure of employing it for generous pur- 
poses. His style of living was dignified, though he maintained 
the strictest economy. While he was in the army he wrote to the 
superintendent of his estate in the following terms. " Let the hos- 
pitality ot the house be kept up with regard to the poor. Let no 
one go hungry away. If any of this sort of people should be in 
want of corn, supply their necessities, provided it does not encour- 
age them in idleness. I have no objection to your giving my money 
in chanty, when you think it will be well bestowed ; I mean, that it 
is my desire, that it should he done. You are lo consider, that nei- 
ther myself nur my wife are in the way to do these good offices." 



WAS. 591 

Thus was he beneficent, while at the same time he required an ex- 
act compliance with engagements. A pleasing proof of the gener- 
ous spirit, which governed him, is exhibited in his conduct towards 
the son of his friend, the marquis de La Fayette, i The marquis, 
after fighting in this country for American liberty, had returned to 
France ; but in -the convulsions of the French revolution he was ex- 
iled and imprisoned in Germany. General Washington gave ev- 
idence of sincere attachment to the unhappy nobleman not only by 
exerting all his influence to procure his release from confinement, 
but by extending his patronage to his son, who made his escape from 
France, and arrived with his tutor at Boston in 1795. As soon as 
he was informed of his arrival, he wrote to a friend, requesting him 
to visit the young gentleman and make him acquainted with the re- 
lations between this country and France, Avhich would prevent the 
president of the United States from publicly espousing his interest, 
but to assure him of his protection and support. He also directed 
this friend to draw upon him for monies to defray all the expenses, 
which young La Fayette might incur. Towards his slaves general 
Washington manifested the greatest care and kindness. Their 
servitude lay with weight upon his mind, and he directed in his will, 
that they should be emancipated on the decease of his wife. There 
were insuperable difiiculties in the way of their receiving freedom 
previously to this event. On the death of Mrs. Washington May 
22, 1802, the estate of general Washington, as he had no children, 
was divided according to his will among his and her relations. It 
amounted by his own estimate to more than five hundred thousand 
dollars. 

The public addresses and other productions of general Washing- 
ton's pen are written in a style of dignified simplicity. Some have 
seen so much excellence in his writings, that they have been ready 
to transfer the honor to his secretaries ; but nothing has appeared 
under his name, to which his own pov^ers were inadequate. A 
volume of epistles, confidential and domestic, attributed to him, 
was published in 1777, and republished about the year 1796. Of 
these general Washington, in a letter to the secretary of state in 
1797, declared the following to be forgeries; a letter to Lund 
Washington, dated June 12, 1776; a letter to John Parke Custis, 
dated June 18, 1776; letters to Lund Washington, dated July 8, 
July 16, July 15, and July 22, 1776 ; and a letter to Mrs. Washing- 
ton, dated June 24, 1776. His official letters to the American con- 
gress, written during the war, were published in two vokimes Svo, 
1795. Since his death his letters to Arthur Young and sir John 
Sinclair on agriculture and the rural economy of the United States 
have been published. — MarshaWs life of Washington ; Tlis' life by 
Ramsay, and Bancroft; Gordon's hisfory of the resolution ; Hardie'e 
bioff. diet. ; Dtvight*s and Tap/ian's discourses on his death. 



592 WAY. 

WAYNE (Anthony), major general in the army of the United 
States, was born in Chester county, Pennsylvania, in 1745. In 1773 
he was appointed a representative to the general assembly, wherein 
conjunction with John Dickinson, Thomas Mifflin, Charles Thom- 
son, c»nd other gentlemen he took an active part in opposition to the 
claims of Great Britain. In 1775 he quilted th& councils of his 
country for the field. He entered the army as a colonel, and at the 
close of the year accompanied general Thomson to Canada. When 
this officer was defeated in his enterprise against the Three Rivers 
in June 1776, and taken prisoner, he himself received a flesh wound 
in the leg. His exertions were useful in the retreat. In the same 
year he served at Ticonderoga under general Gates, by whom he 
was esteemed both for his courage and military talents, and for his 
knowledge as an engineer. At the close of the campaign he was 
made a brigadier general. In the campaign of 1777 in the middle 
states he took a very active part. In the battle of Brandywine he 
distinguished himself, though he was in a few days afterward sur- 
prised and defeated by major general Grey. He fought also in the 
battle of Germantown, as well as in the battle of Monmouth in June 
1778. In his most daring and successful assault upon Stony Point 
in July 1779, while he was rushing forward with his men under a tre- 
mendous fire of musketry and grape shot, determined to carry the 
works at the point of -the bayonet, he was struck by a musket ball 
up'jn his head. He was for a moment stunned ; but as soon as he 
Was able to rise so as to rest on one knee, believing that hie wound 
^vas mortal, he cried to one of his aids, " carry me forward, and let 
me die in the fort." When he entered it he gave orders to stop 
the effusion of blood. In 1781 he was ordered to march with the 
Pennsylvania line from the northward, and form a junction with La 
P'ayette in Virginia. On the sixth of July, after receiving informa- 
tion, that the main body of the enemy under Cornwallis had crossed 
James* river, he pressed forward at the head of eight hundred men 
to attack the rear guard. But to his utter astonishment, when he 
reached the place, he found the whole British army, consisting of 
four thousand men, drawn up ready to receive him. At this mo- 
ment he conceived of but one way to escape. He rushed towards 
the enemy till he came within twenty five yards, when he com- 
menced a gallant attack, which he supported for a few minutes, and 
then retreated with the utmost expedition. The British general 
was confounded by this movement, and apprehensive of an ambus- 
cade from La Fayette would not allow of a pursuit. After the cap- 
ture of Cornwallis, he was sent to conduct the war in Georgia, where 
with equal success he contended with British soldiers, Indian sav- 
ages, and American traitors. As a reward for his services the leg- 
islature of Georgia presented him with a valuable farm. At the 
conclusion of the war he retired to private life. In 1787 he was a 
member of the Pennsylvania convention, which ratified the consti*- 



WEA. B03 

tution of the United States. In 1792 he succeeded St. Clair in the 
command of the army to be employed against the Indians. In the 
battle of the Miamis August 20, 1794 he gained a complete victory- 
over the enemy ; and afterwards desolated their country. On the 
third of August 1795 he concluded a treaty with the hostile Indians 
northwest of the Ohio. While in the service of his country he 
died in a hut at Presque Isle, aged about fifty one years, and was 
buried on the shore of lake Eric. — Monthly mag. for 1797, 72, 73 ; 
Potyanthost ii. 217 ; Ema-aldy ii. 87 — 89 ; Hurdle ; Marshal!^ iii. 
161 ; iv. 75, 442 ; v. 373, 461, 567, 570 — 574, 639 ; Gordon, iii. 
268; iv. 117, 300. 

WE ARE (Meshech), president of the state of New Hampshire, 
Was graduated at Harvard college in 1735. Having been for some 
time in the legislature, he was in 1754 appointed a commissioner 
to the congress at Albany, afterwards one of the justices of the su- 
perior court, and in 1777 chief justice. When this country was 
declared independent of great Britain in 1776, the people of New 
Hampshire established a frame of government, and he was 
chosen the president. Such was the imperfection of this system, 
and such also was the confidence reposed ii. him, that he was invest- 
ed at the same time with the highest offices, legislative, judicial, 
and executive,in which he was contmued by annual elections during 
the whole war. When a new constitution was adopted in 1784, he 
was again elected president ; but he resigned before the close of the 
year. He died, worn out with public services, January 15, 1786, in 
the seventy third year of his age. He was not a person of an orig- 
inal and inventive genius ; but he had extensive knowledge, a clear 
perception, an accurate judgment, a calm temper, a modest deport- 
ment, an upright and benevolent heart, and a habit of prudence and 
diligence in discharging the various duties of public and private life, 
—^Belknafi's jV. H. ii. 401, 485 ; Macclintock's sermon at commence' 
ment of constitution, 

WEBB (John), minister in Boston, was graduated at Harvard 
college in 1708. While a member of this seminary he was in- 
spired with that love of God, of which he was before destitute, and 
determined to devote himself to that Being, who had imparted to 
hirh the blessings of the gospel. After having.been chaplain at the 
castle, and after preaching for some time in one of the parishes of 
Newbury, he was ordained the first minister of the new north church 
in Boston October 20, 1714. After surviving one colleague, Mr. 
Thacher, and enjoying the assistance of another, Dr. Eliot, for eight 
years, he died in peace and joy April 16, 1750, in the sixty third 
year of his age. His colleague pronounced him " one of the best 
of Christians and one of the best of ministers." It was his constant 
desire to dispense the gospel of Christ in its purity and simplicity, 
and not to sooth the ears of his hearers with well turned periods. 
The doctrines, which he almost always introduced into hisdiscours- 
76 



594 WEB. 

es, were those of the universal depravity of man, of the necessity of 
divine influence to renew the heart, of justification by faith alone^ 
and of the perseveranceof all, who have been brought to repentance ; 
but in Irandling these subjects he always showed a concern to pro- 
mote the interests of practical j^odliness. He was faithful in the 
discharge of all the duties of the sacred office, and his fervent labors 
were attended with great success. He was humble, teniperate, and 
upright. Willie a tenth part of his income was consecrated to 
charitable uses, his table v/as always accessible to the necessitous. 
Some were disposed to think him illiberal on account of his zeal for 
what he coiisidered as the peculiar doctrines of Christianity ; but 
though he abhorred an indiffci'ence or an affected candor where the 
cause of truth was concerned, and was ever steady to his principles; 
yet he loved the image ot the divine holiness wherever it was pre- 
sented. His temper was naturally warm ; but he bore with patience 
the reproaches, which were cast upon him. He published the fol- 
lowing sermons ; to a society of young men, 1718 ; on the peculiar 
advantages of early piety, 1721 ; a sermon betore the general as- 
sembly, 1722 ; a seasonable warning against bad company keeping, 
1726 ; on the death of William Waldron, 1727 ; the believer's re- 
demption by the precious blood of Christ ; on the payment of vows, 
1728 ; directions to obtain eternal salvation in seven sermons, 1729 ; 
the great concern of New England ; a discourse at the ordination of 
a deacon 1731 ; the duty of a degenerate people to pray for the 
reviving of God's work ; a sermon in the hearing of two condemned 
malefactors, 1734 ; the government of Christ, an election sermon, 
1738; on the death of Peter Thacher, 1739; Christ's suit to the 
sinner while he stands and knocks at the door.— ./f . Eliofsfun. serin. ,• 
/. ElioCs dedicat. sermon. 

WEBSTER (Samuel, d.d.), minister of Salisbury, Massachu- 
setts, was born in 1718 and was graduated at Harvard college in 
1737. His ordination took place August 12, 1741. After a min- 
istry ot near fi^fty five years, he died July 18, 1796, in the seventy 
eighth year of his age. At the time, when he entered the sacred 
office, his mind was so oppressed by the importance of the work, 
in which he was about to engage, that he was ready to abandon all 
thoughts of the calling. In his preaching he was remarkably clear 
and plain. He did not study for ornament, or elegance of style, but 
it was his chief aim to preach with distinctness, that he might do 
good to his hearers. He first endeavored to enlighten their under- 
standings, and then to warm their hearts. There was an earnestness 
in his manner, which convinced his hearers, that he himself felt what 
1^ delivered. As he did not think himself obliged to adopt any hu- 
man system, but derived his doctrines from the word of God ; so 
he freely taught what he believed to be the truth. He did not 
preach the things, which he considered as of doubtful disputation. 
He possessed a liappy talent in visiting his people, and could adapt 



WEL. 505 

Ifimself to their circumstances, and in a pleasing manner give then) 
instruction. The beauties of Christian virtue were exhibited in 
his whole life. He published a last sermon, entitled, the misery 
and duty of an oppressed and enslaved people, 1774 ; a sermon to 
two companies of minute men, 1775 ; election sermon, 1777 ; two 
discourses on infant baptism^ third ed. 1780.— Cary'a sermon on his 
death. 

WELDE (Thomas), first minister of Roxbury, Massachusetts, 
was a native of England and was a minister in Essex before he 
came to this country. Refusing to comply with the impositions of 
the established church, he determined to seek the quiet enjoyment 
of the rights of conscience in America. He arrived at Boston 
June 5, 1632, and in July was invested with the pastoral care of the 
church in Roxbury. In November following he received Mr. John 
Eliot as his colleague. In 1639 he assisted Mr. Mather and Mr. 
Eliot in making tlie tuneful New England version of tte Psalms. 
In 1641 he was sent with Mr. Hugh Peters to England as an agent 
for the province, and he never returned. He was settled at Gates- 
head, but lost his living with the other ejected ministers in 1662. 
He published a short story of the rise, reign, and ruin of the anti- 
nomians, faniilists, and libertines, that infected the churches of New 
England, 4to, 1644, and a second edition, 1692 ; an answer to W. 
R.'s narration of the opinions and practices of the New England 
churches, vindicating those godly and orthodoxal churches from 
more than a hundred imputations. Sec. 1644. With three other 
ministers he wrote the perfect pharisee under monkish holiness, 
against the quakers, 1654. — Collect, hist. soc. viii. 7—10 ; ix. 33 ; 
Hutchinson^ i. 98 ; ii. 504,507 ; Nonconform, memorial^ix. 181, 182; 
Adams* sermons on relig. liberty. 

WELLES (Noah, d. d.), minister of Stamford in Connecticvrt, 
was graduated at Yale college in 1741, and was ordained December 
31, 1746. His death took place, it is believed, in the year 1776. 
He was a theologian of great distinction, and he took an active part 
in the controversy respecting an American episcopate. He pub- 
lished a discourse in favor of presbyterian ordination ; a vindication 
of the validity and divine right of presbyterian ordination, as set 
forth in Mr. Chauncy'sDudleian lecture and Mr. Welles' discourse, 
in answer to the exceptions of Mr. Jeremiah Learning, 1767 ; u 
funeral sermon on the reverend Mr. Hobart, 1773. 

WENTWORTH (Benning), governor of New Hampshire, 
was the son of lieutenant governor Wentworth, and was graduated 
ct Harvard college in 1715. After having been a member of the 
assembly and of the council, his mercantile business called him to 
London, w-here he solicited and obtained the commission of gover- 
nor. He began his;ad ministration in 1741 and continued in this office 
near twenty years. He v/as superseded in 1 767 by his nephew, John 
Wentworth, and died October 14, 1770, in the seventy fifth year of 



596 WES. 

his age. He possessed strong passions and his resentments were last- 
ing. Closely attached to the interest of the church of England, in 
his grants ol lands, by which he enriched hiniselt, he reserved a right 
in every township for the society tor propagating the gospel, of whic h 
he was a member. Bennington in Vermont has its name irom him, 
and he granted many otner towns in that slate. Though during his 
administration he declined giving a charier for a college in New 
Hampshire, unless it was put under the direction of the bishop of 
London ; yet he afterwards gave a lot of five hundred acres of land 
to Dartmouth college, and on this land the college edifice wasercctcd. 
He cooperated with the assembly in giving to Harvard college three 
hundred pouiids towards repairing the library, which had been de- 
stroyed by fire. In his appointment of civil and military officers 
he was frequently governed by motives of favor ; but his adminis* 
tration in ether respects was beneficial. He was frerpiently visited 
by the gout, and from these visits he did not acquire much patience. 
— Bclkna/i's JV. H. \\. 181 — 187,203, 312, 330,338 — 342,352,355. 
WEST (Samuel, d. d.), minister of New Bedford, Massachu- 
setts, was born in Yarmouth March 4, 1730, and was occupied in 
the labors of husbandry till he passed the twentieth year of his age. 
As he discovered such traits of genius and such an extensive ac- 
quaintance with the scriptures, and other books, which fell in his 
way, as awakened the attention of a few intelligent and good men, 
they resolved to give him a liberal education. He was graduated at 
Harvard college in 1754, having gained a rank among the most dis- 
tinguished of his class. About the year 1764 he was ordained at 
New Bedford. The year 1775 awakened his attention to politics, 
and he became a whig partizan. He wrote many forcible pieces in 
the newspapers, which roused the spirits of the timid, and animated 
the courageous. He decyphered the letter of doctor Church, which 
exposed to the enemy the particular state of the American army. 
He was a member of the convention for forming the constitution of 
Massachusetts and of the United States ; and was chosen honorary 
member of the academy of arts and sciences, instituted at Philadel- 
phia, and a member of the American academy at Boston. In the 
latter part of his life his memory almost entirely failed him. The 
vast treasure of his ideas began to vanish at the age of seventy, and 
during the seven succeeding years the great man disappeared. He 
died at Tiverton, Rhode Island, September 24, 1807, aged seventy 
seven years, and was buried at New Bedford. He possessed an original 
mind of vigorous powers. During the last thirty years of his life he 
used no notes in preaching. So deep had been his researches into 
almost every theological subject, that he could preach an hour upon 
any text without premeditation, and yet with coherence and unity 
of design. It was his practice, when he was not in his own puljiit, 
isx discourse upop any text, which vas pointed out to h;m ; and 



WES. 597 

sometimes the most difficult and obscure passages would be given 
him for the purpose ot trying his strength. He was not however a 
popular preacher. There were defects in the tone and inflexion of 
his voice, and there was a singularity and uncouthness in his man- 
ner, for which the ingenuity and strength of his arguments could 
not compensate. In his metaphysical opinions he was opposed to 
the system, supported by president Edwards in his inquiry into the 
freedom of the will, and contended that men possess a self deter- 
mining power. Yet of all men he seemed to have the least power 
of controlling his own feelings or of determining his own volitions. 
At times he exhibited the greatest abstraction of thought. A new 
book absorbed his whole attention and made him neglect the com- 
mon rules of decorum. He paid no attention to domestic matters 
till compelled by imperious necessity. He could not readily for- 
give tliose, v/ho doubted the truth of certain favorite opinions, or 
reminded him of any instances of credulity, with which he might 
be charged. In some respects he seemed to be completely under 
the control of prejudice. His manners were unpolished ; his fig- 
ure and dcportm.ent wei'C not very attracting ; nor was his temper 
very mild and amiable. Notwithstanding his singularities no man 
could accuse him of the wilful violation of any principle of moral 
rectitude. He published a sermon at the ordination of Samuel 
West of Needham, 1764; election sermon, before the provincial 
convention, 1776 ; at the anniversary of the landing of the forefa- 
thers at Plymouth, 1777 ; at the ordination of John AUyn, 1788 ; 
a small tract on infant baptism ; essays on liberty and necessity, in 
which the arguments of president Edwards and others for necessity- 
are considered, the first part in 1793, the second in 1795. To these 
essays Dr. Edwards, the son of the president, wrote an answer, and 
Dr. West left behind him a reply almost completed. — Monthbj an- 
thology^ v. 133 — 137 ; Panoplist, iii. 537 — 541. 

WEST (Samuel, d. d.), minister in Boston, was born at Mar- 
tha's Vineyard November 19, 1738. His father, the reverend 
Thomas West, was the colleague of the reverend Experience May- 
hew, but afterwards removed to Rochester. He was graduated at 
Harvard college in 1761, and soon afterwards was appointed chap- 
lain at fort Pownall in Penobscot, where he had a good opportunity 
for pursuing his theological studies. He was ordained minister of 
Needham April 25, 1764. In this place he continued till 1788, 
when his relation with his people was dissolved in consequence of a 
pressing invitation to remove to Boston, which he had received. He 
was installed pastor of the church in Hollis street, as successor of 
the reverend Mr. Wight, March 12, 1789. After a lingering ill- 
ness of several years, he died April 10, 1808, in the seventieth year 
of his age. He has been succeeded by the reverend Mr. Holley. 

Dr. West was educated in the system of Calvin. Being of a 
mild disposition he was never disposed to intolerance, to polemi- 



598 WES. 

cal discussion, or acrimonious censure of others. He could live in 
hubits of friendship with men, wliose opinions were opposite to his 
own. His sentiments in the latter periods of his life, it is represent- 
ed, suffered considerable change. Having an excellent memory, he 
■was in the practice of preaching without the use of his notes, though 
his sermons were always the iruit of deep study and reflection. 
While at Needham he presided over what were called family meet- 
ings. It was his design in them to give instruction to those, who 
either by age or sickness were detained from public worship on the 
sabbath, and to be more plain and familiar in his address, than when 
in the pulpit. He used lo say, that in no branch of his ministerial 
duty did lie enjoy more satisfaction, than in these meetings. His 
candor and charity towards all men were as abundant and extensive, 
as could possibly be consistent with moral rectitude. In his politi- 
cal suntimenis and conduct he exhibited remarkable moderation 
both during the struggle with Great Britain, and in the conflict of 
parties since tiie levoiution. He published a sermon at the ordi- 
nation of Jonatlian Neweil, 1774 ; a funeral sermon ; two fast ser- 
mons, 1785 ; election sermon, 1786; a sermon at his own instal- 
ment, 1789; artillery election sermon, 1794; a thanksgiving ser- 
mon, 1795 ; a sermon on the death of George Washington, 1800 ; 
a series of essays in the Columbian centinel with the signature of 
*' an old man," commenced November 29, 1806, and continued to 
August 22, l807.—.T/iac/ie7-'s biograjihical memoir; Lathr op's fun. 
sermon ; Panojilht^ iii. 574. 

WESTERLO (EiLAKDUs, d. d.), minister in Albany, was a na- 
tive of Holland. He had just finished his studies in the university 
of Groningen, when a call from the Dutch church in Albany was 
put in his hands, Avhich he accepted. He came to America in 1760. 
In 1771 he readily imparted his aid in conjunction with the rever- 
end Dr. Livingston and others towards effecting a union of the 
Dutch churches, then divided into parties, and he had the happiness 
of seeing this object completed in the following year. He was 
highly popular and useful as a preacher, and lived in great honor 
and esteem with his brethren in the ministry and with the churches 
in general until his removal by death December 6, 1790. He was 
a man of a strong mind, of eminent piety, and of great erudition, 
especially in theology, his favorite study, and in oriental literature. 
'—Chrifttiati's magazine., ii. 270. 

WETMORE (James), an episcopalian missionary, was graduated 
at the college in Saybrook, Connecticut, in 1714. He was ordained 
the first minister of North Haven in November 1718, but in Sep- 
tember 1722 he announced his conversion to the episcopal persua- 
sion. This was the time, at which Dr. Cutler ciianged his senti- 
ments. After going to England for orders in 1723, Mr. Wetmore 
was on his return estai)lished rector of the church at Rye in the 
province of New York under the patronage of the society for prop* 



WHE, 599 

agating the gospel. In this place he contuiued till his death, May 
14, 1760. His successor at North Haven, the reverend Isaac Stiles, 
died on the same day. Such was his zeal for episcopacy, thut he 
once declared he would rather join in w^orship wiih a Jewish syna- 
gogue than with a presbyterian church. He published a letter 
against Mr. Dickinson in defence of Dr. Wateriaiid's discourse on 
regeneration, about the year 1744 ; a vindication of the professors 
of the church of England in Connecticut in answer to Mr. Hobart's 
sermon in favor of presbyterian ordination, 1747 ; a rejoinder to 
Mr. Hobart's serious address ; an appendix to Mr. Beach's vindi- 
cation. — Trumbull's cent, sermon ; Chandler's life of Johnson^ 10, 27, 
37; Holme h' annals., n. 107; Hobart's second address^ 143. 

WHEATLEY (Phillis), a poet, was a native of Africa, and 
was brought to America in 1761, whbn she was between seven and 
eight years old. She soon acquired a knowledge of the English 
language, and made some progress in the Latin. While she was a 
slave in the family of Mr. John Wheatley in Boston, she wrote a 
volume of poems. Africa may well boast^that one of her daughters, 
not twenty years of age, should produce the following lines. They 
ai'e extracted from the poem on imagination. 

Though winter frowns, to Fancy's raptured eyes 
The fields may flourish, and gay scenes arise ; 
The frozen deeps may break their iron bands, 
And bid their waters murmur o'er the sands ; 
Fair Flora may resume her fragrant reign. 
And with her flowery riches deck the plain ; 
Sylvanus may dilfuse his honors round, 
And all the forest may with leaves be crown'd ;. 
Show'rs may descend, and dews their gems disclose, 
And nectar sparkle on the blooming rose. 
She afterwards was married to a Mr. Peters. She died at Boston 
December 5, 1784, aged thirty one years. She published, besides 
©ther separate pieces, poems on various subjects, religious and moral, 
8vo, London, 1773. — Preface to that work. 

WHEELOCK (Eleazer, D.D.), first president of Dartmouth 
eoUege, was born about the year 1710, and was graduated at Yale 
college, in 1733. While he was the minister of Lebanon in Con- 
necticut, he revived the design of an Indian school, which was first 
formed by Mr. Sergeant. Desirous of bringing the savages to an 
acquaintance with the truths of the gospel, he conceived, that if he 
could educate Indian youth for missionaries, there would be n.ore 
prospect of success from their labors, than from the exertions of the 
whites. With these views he undertook himself the care and ex- 
pense of educating two Indian lads in 1754 ; but the design was so 
benevolent, that a number of gentlemen soon united with liini. His 
pupils increased, and after receiving numerous benefactions, the 
largest of which was the donation of Mr. Joshua Moor of Mansfield, 



600 WHE. 

he called his institution " Moor's school." In 1762 he had more 
than twenty youth under his care. To enlarge the power ot doing 
good contributions were solicited not only in various parts of this 
country, but also in England and Scotland. The money, collected 
in England, was put into the hands of a board of trustees, of whom 
the earl of Dartmouth was at the head. From this circumstance> 
when Dr. Wheclock was invited by the government of New Hamp- 
shire to remove to Hanover and establish a college in that place, it 
was called Dartmouth college. This seminary was incorporated in 
1769, and Dr. Wheelock was declared its founder and president 
with the right of appointing his successor. He lived for some time 
at Hanover in a log hut. In 1770 he removed his school. The 
number of his scholars, destined for missionaries, was at this time 
twenty four, of whom eighteen were whites and only six Indians. 
This alteration of his plan was the result of experience. He 
had found, that of forty Indian youth, who hud been under his 
care, twenty h:id returned to the vices of sa\ age life. The first 
commencement was held in 1771, when the degree of bachelor 
of arts was conferred on four students, one of whoiii was John 
Wheelock, the son and successor ol the founder, and who is now 
at the head of the institution. Dr. Wheelock died April 24, 
1779 in the sixty ninth year of his age. He published a narrative 
of the Indian charity school at Lebanon, 1762 ; narratives in several 
numbers from 1763 to 1771 ; continuation of the narrative, 1773, 
to which is added an abstract of a mission to the Delaware Indians 
west of the Ohio by David Macclure and Levi Frisbie ; a sermon 
on liberty of conscience, 1775. — Belknap's JV. H. ii. 349 — 353 ; iii. 
298; Holinea' annals, ii. 292, 292; Backus, iii. 289 ; Wheelock's 
narratives. 

WHEELWRIGHT (John), the founder of Exeter, New Hamp- 
shire, after being a minister in England, was induced in consequence 
of the impositions of the established church to come to Massachusetts 
soon after its first settlement. He was a brother in law to the famous 
Mrs. Hutchinson, and partook of her antinomian zeal. He preached 
in Boston on a fast day in 1636, and his sermon was filled with invec- 
tives against the magistrates and ministers. The court of magis- 
trates in return adjudged him guilty of sedition. As all endeavors 
to convince him of his error were in vain, sentence of banishment 
was passed upon him in November 1637. In 1638, accompanied 
by a number of persons from Braintree, where he had been a preach- 
er, and which was a part of Boston, he went to New Hampshire, 
and laid the foundation of the church and town of Exeter. The 
next year, thinking themselves out of the jurisdiction of Massachu- 
setts, they combined into a separate body politic ; but in 1642, when 
Exeter was annexed to Essex county, Mr. Wheelwright, being still 
mider the sentence of banishment, removed with a part of his church 
to Wells in the district of iMoine. In 1644 he was restored to the 



WHi. mi 

freedom of the colony upon his making an acknowledgment. In 
1647 he removed to Hampton, where he was minister several years. 
In 1658 he was in England and in favor with Cromwell. After the 
restoration he returned to America, and settled at Salisbury, New 
Hampshire, where he died in 1680 at a very advanced age. He was 
the oldest mimster in tlie colony, and was a man of learning, piety, 
andzQal.—Mal's JV. Ji.i. 186,'l90; Welde ; limt/iro/i, 122,329 
—.331 ; Hutchinsoih i. 55, 70, 74, 106 ; Sullivan's diet. Maine, 231 
— 254 ; Belkna/i's .AC //. i. 14, 22, 36, 58 ; Holmes' afi7ials, i. 287, 
304, 452. 

WHITE (Peregrine), the first Englishman, born in New 
fengland, was born at Plymouth in November 1620, and died at 
Marshfield July 22, 1704, in the eighty fourth year of his age. — = 
Prince's annals, 76 ; Hutchinson, ii. 148. 

WHITEFIELD (George), an eloquent itinerant preacher, was 
horn in Gloucester, England, December 16, 1714. After having 
luade some progress in classical learning, he was obliged to assist 
his motiier, Avho kept an inn, in her business ; but at the age of 
eighteen he entered onte of the colleges at Oxford. Here he be- 
came acquainted with Messrs. John and Charles Wesley, whose 
piety was ardent and singular like his own. From the strict rules 
and methods of life, which these young men followed, they were 
called methodists, and they were the founders of the sect thus de- 
nominated. Mr. Whitefield^s benevolent zeal led him to visit the 
poor and even to search out the miserable objects in the gaols, not 
only to diminish their wants, but that he might impart to them the 
consolations and hopes of the gospel. He took orders, being or- 
dained by the bishop June 20, 1736, and preached his first sermon 
in the church at Gloucester. When a compliint was afterwards 
entered with the bishop, that by this sermon he drove fifteen per- 
sons mad ; the worthy prelate only expressed a wish, that the mad- 
ness might not be forgotten before the next Sunday. After preach- 
ing at various places he was induced by a letter from Mr. Wesley, 
who was in Georgia, to embai-k for America. He arrived at Sa- 
vannah May 7, 1738. After laboring in this place with unwearied 
fidelity for several months to promote the interests of religion, he 
embarked for England on the sixth of Septeml)er. He was ordained 
priest at Oxford by bishop Benson January 14, 1739. In Noveni" 
ber he again arrived in America, and he travelled through the mid- 
dle and southern colonies, dispensing the gospel to immense multi- 
tudes. In September 1740 he arrived at Rhode Island from Sa- 
vannah, having been invited by the ministers of Boston, and he 
preached in different parts of New England. At the end of Octo- 
ber he went to New York, and he soon returned to Georgia. He 
Avas much occupied in the establishment of an orphan house near 
Savannah. In January 1741 he sailed for England. He arrived 
again in America in October 1 7-14» and he now spent between three 
77 



602 WHI. 

and four years in this country. In March 1748 he went to the 
Bermudas, and in July he reached London. Having crossed the 
Atlantic for the fourth time, he arrived at Savannah October 27, 
1751, and returned to his native country in April 1752. In his 
fifth visit to the new world he remained herefrom May 1754 to 
March 1755. His sixth voyage brought him to Virginia in August 
1763, and he did not set sail again for Great Britain till June 1765. 
For the seventh and last time his zeal to do good induced him to 
brave the dangers of the ocean, and he landed upon ihe American 
shore November 30, 1769, never again to leave it. After preach- 
ing in different parts of the country, he died suddenly at Newbury- 
port, Massachusetts, September 30, 1770, in the fifty sixth year of 
his age. Perhaps no man since the days of the apostles ever labor- 
ed with such indefatigable zeal in preaching the gospel of salvation, 
as Mr. White field. When he commenced his career in England, 
the religion of the heart was much neglected in the care to defend 
the GUtvvorks of Christianity against the assaults of infidels. If 
these assailants were repulsed ; still the ingenious disquisitions of 
the day carried no terror into the enemy's camp, and the over anx- 
ious attempts to conciliate unhumbled reason rather than to reduce 
the unholy heart to the obedience of the cross could not fail to en- 
courage the opposers of the truth. Mr. Whitefield, while aware of 
the necessity of enlightening the mind, knew also that there was 
much theological learning, which had little influence upon the life. 
He therefore chose to content himself with preaching the plain and 
important doctrines of the gospel. These he presented so distinct- 
ly to the view, and enforced by such awful considerations and with 
such energy and unexampled eloquence, that through the divine 
agency, without which he knew that his labors would be utterly in 
vain, he was the means of imparting the pure principles and the 
elevated hopes of religion to thousands both in Great Britain and 
America. No preacher ever had such astonishing power over the 
passions of his auditory, or was attended by such multitudes, as he 
sometimes addressed in the fields. In the early periods of his life he 
was guilty in some instances of uncharitableness and indiscretion ; 
but he afte'rwards had the magnanimity to confess his fault. He was 
in reality a man of a very liberal and catholic spirit, for he had little 
attachment to forms, and embraced all, who loved the Lord Jesus in 
sincerity. His life was spent in most disinterested and benevolent 
exertion. The following lines will show the opinion, which was 
formed of his character by the evangelical poet, Cowper. 

He lov'd the world, that hated him ; the tear, 

That dropp'd upon his bible, was sincere ; 

Assail'd by scandal and the tongue of strife, 

His only answer was a blameless life, 

And he, that forg'd, and he, that threw the dart. 

Had each a brother's interest in his heart. 



WHI. 603 

Paul*s love of Christ and steadiness unbrib'd 
Were copied close in him, and well transcrib'd ; 
He foUow'd Paul, his zeal a kindred flame, 
His apostolic charity the same. 
Like him cross'd cheerfully tempestuous seas, 
Forsaking country, kindred, friends, and ease ; 
Like him he labor'd, and like him, content 
To bear it, suffer'd shame where'er he went. 
Blush, calumny ! and write upon his tomb, 
If honest eulogy can spare thee room. 
Thy deep repentance of thy thousand lies. 
Which, aim'd at him, have pierc'd th' offended skies, 
And say, blot out mv sin, confessed, deplor'd. 
Against thine image in thy saint, O Lord ! 
Mr. Whitefield's letters, sermons, and controversial and other 
tracts, with an account of his life, were published in seven volumes, 
8vo, 1771. — •Gillies' account of his life ; Middleton's biografihia e-van- 
^e/icc, iv. 418— 448 ; Parsons\ Pemberton's^mid Wesley's sermons 
on his death ; Christian history for 1743, 282 ; for 1744, 379 — 386 j 
Chauncy's thoughts ; Coiufier's kofie. 

WHITFIELD (Henry), first minister of Guilford, Connecticut, 
was born in England in 1597, and was settled in Surry before he 
came to this country in 1639. He continued at Guilford until 1750, 
when he returned to his native country, and finished his life in tne 
ministry at Winchester. He was a good scholar, a dibtinguished 
divine, and an excellent preacher. He published the light appear- 
ing more and more Sec, giving an account of the progTess of the 
gospel among the Indians, 1651 . — Magnalia^ iii. 217,218 ; Trum- 
bull's Connect, i. 292, 298, 309 ; Collect, hist. soc. iv. 186, 

WHITING (Samuel), first minister of Lynn, Massachusetts, 
was born in England in 1 597, and was educated at Cambridge. He 
arrived at Boston May 26, 1636. In about a month he went to 
Lynn, where a church was gathered on the eighth of November. 
Mr. Cobbet was his colleague for a number of years, and after his 
removal one of his own sons was his assistant. He died December 
11,1 679, in the eighty third year of his age. He possessed an ac- 
curate knowledge of Hebrew and wrote Latin with elegance. His 
disposition was peculiarly amiable, and the sanctity of his life im- 
pressed all men with respect for him. From his writings Nortori's 
life of Cotton was partly composed. He published a treatise upoti 
the last judgment, 1664; Abraham interceding for Sodom, a volume 
of sermons, 1666. — •Mather's magnalia^ni. 156 — 161 ; Johnson., 89 ; 
IVinthro/i, 113. 

WHITTELSEY (Samuel), minister of Wallingford, Connecti- 
cut, was graduated at Yale college in 1705, and was ordained as the 
colleague of the reverend Mr. Street in May 1710. He died A- 
pi'il 15, 1752, in the sixty seventh year of his age. He was one of 



604 WIG. 

the most dislinguished preachers and faithful niinistevs of the colo- 
ny, ill which he lived. Such was the vigor and penetration of his 
mind) that he easily comprehended subjects, which presented great 
diiUculdos to others. His son, Chauncy Whittelsey, an eminent 
scholar, was minister of New Haven from 175 8 till his death in 
1787. He published a sermon upon the death of John Hall, 1730 ; 
an election sermon ; a sermon on the awful condition of impen- 
itent souls in their separate state, 173,1 ; a sermon at the ordi- 
ation cf his son, Samuel Whittelsey, at Milford, 1737.i — Dana's cen- 
tury, discourse at Waltins^ford ; Collect, hist. soc. s.. lo9. 

WiClGLESWORTH (Michaei,), a poet, was graduated at 
Harvard college in 1651, and was afterwards ordained minister of 
Maiden, Massachusetts, where he continued till his death in 1705 
at the age of seventy four years. He was useful not only as a min-. 
ister but as a physician. During an illness, which occasionally in- 
terrupted his exertions as a preacher for several years, he still 
sought to do good by his labors as a poet. He published the day 
of doom, or a poetical description of the great and last judgment, 
with a short discourse about eternity, fifth edition, 1701 ; meat out 
of the eater, or a meditation concerning tjie necessity, end, and 
usefulness of afflictions unto God's children, fifth edition, 1718. — 
Holmes^ annals., ii. 66 ; Hutchinson.^ i. 173. 

WIGGLESVVORTH (Edwaud, u.d.), first Holiis professor of 
divinity in Harvard college, was the son of the preceding, and was 
graduated at Harvard college in 1710. After he commenced preach- 
ing, his services were enjoyed in different places. So conspicuous 
■were his talents, and so exemplary was he for every Christian virtue, 
that when the professorship of divinity in Harvard college was found- 
ed by Mr. Thomas Hollis, he was unanimously appointed first profes- 
sor and was inducted into this office October 24, 1722. In this station 
he continued more than forty two years. He died conscious of the 
failings of his life, yet hopuig for pardon through Jesus Christ, Jan- 
uary 16, 1765, in the seventy third year of his age. His son of the 
same name succeeded him in this year, and remained in office till 
his resignation in 1791. The next professor was the reverend Dr. 
Tappan. Dr. Wigglesworth was an eminent theologian, and was 
distinguished for learning, humility, and piety. He discussed the 
various points of controversy with candor, and explained and vindi- 
cated the grand doctrines of religion with per.T,picuity and solid ar- 
gument. He possessed great strength and comprehension of mind, 
and a peculiar talent at reasoning. With regard to his own senti- 
ments, in the examination, which took place at the time of his 
election in order to fulfil the statutes of the founder, requiring the 
professor to be " of sound or orthodox principles," he declared his 
assent to the doctrine of the Holy Trinity^ of the eternal Godhead 
pf our blessed Savior, of predestination, of special, efficacious grace, 
^^lld of the divine right of int^int baptism. Bu'. though he was steady 



WIL. 605 

10 his own principles, he was charitable towards others, who widely 
diffei"ed fram him. Dr. Chauncy pronounces him to have been far 
removed from bigotry, and a truly great and excellent man. In 
private life, though a defect in hearing cut him oft" in a great degree 
from the ijleasures of social intercourse, yet he was aflable, conde* 
scending, and obliging. He published sober remarks, 1724; on 
the duration of the future punishment of the wicked, 1729; trial of 
the spirits, 1735 ; a sermon on the death ot president Wadsworth> 
1737; inquiry into the truth of the imputation of the guilt of Ad- 
am's sin to his posterity, 1738 ; a letter to Mr. Whitefield, 1745 ; 
on the inspiration of the old testament, 1753 ; two lectures on the 
ordinary and extraordinary ministers of Clyist, 1754; Dudleiaii 
lecture on the infallibility of the church of Rome, 1757 ; doctrine 
of reprobation briefly considered, 1763.— J/i/ileion's discourse ojihis 
death; Taylor* a oratiofunebris ; Boston evening post^ number 1533; 
Monthly anthology^ ii. 209 ; Collect, hist. soc. x. 160. 

WILLARD (Samuel), minister in Boston and vice president of 
Harvard college, was the son of Mr. Simon Wiilurd, who sustained 
some important offices in Massachusetts both civil and military. 
lie was graduated at Harvard college in 1659. He was afterwards 
the minister of Groton ; but the ravages of the Indian war drove 
^lim from that place about the year 1676. He was settled colleague 
with Mr. Thacher, the first minister of the old south church in 
Boston, April 10, 1678. In 1700 he received Mr. Peraberton as 
an assistant minister. After the resignation of president Mather, 
he as vice president took the superintendence of Harvard college 
September 6, 1701, and presided over that seminary till his death 
September 12, 1707, at the age of sixty eight years. President 
Leverett succeeded him. Mr. Willard possessed very superior 
powers of mind. His imagination was rich though not luxuiiant, 
his perception was rapid and correct, and in argument he was pro- 
found and clear. His learning also was very considerable. To his 
other accomplishments he added remarkable and unaffected modes- 
ty. In controversy he was a champion, defending the cause of 
truth with courage, and with enUghtened and affectionate zeal. Ali 
his talents and acquisitions were devoted to God, who had created 
him anew in Christ Jesus, and implanted in his heart all the pure, 
and humble, and lovely virtues of Christianity. In the time of 
the witchcraft delusion he distinguished himself by opposing the 
vash proceedings of the courts. He published a sermon to the 
second church after they had received the covenant ; a discourse 
on the death of John Leverett, 1679 ; animadversions on the bap- 
lists, 1681 ; covenant keeping the way to blessedness ; on the fiery 
trial ; a fast sennon ; election sermon, 1682 ; the child's portion, 
or the unseen glory of the children of God, 1684 ; a discourse up- 
on justification ; heavenly merchandise, 1686; on laying hands on 
the bible in swearing, 1689 ; the barren fig tree's doom ; against: 



606 WIL. 

excessive sorrow ; the danger of taking the name of God in vain ; 
on promise keeping, 1691; on worsnipping God ; on discerning 
the times ; on the doctrine of the covenant of redemption, 1693 ; 
election sermon ; a fast sermon ; the law estabUshcd by the gospel, 
1694 ; spiritual desertions discovered and remedied, 1699 ; a rem- 
edy against despair ; love's pedigree ; the perils of the times dis- 
played, the substance of several sermons ; on the calling of the 
Jews, 1700; the Christian's exercises by satan's temptations; 
caution about swearing ; a sermon on the death of William Stough- 
ton, 1701 ; fast sermon ; Israel's true safety, 1704; fountain open- 
ed, or blessings to be dispensed at the national conversion of the 
Jews, second edition, 1723 and third, 1727 with an appendix by judge 
Sewall ; sacramental meditations. Mr, Willard's largest work, 
and the first folio volume on divinity printed in this country, was 
published in 1726, entitled a body of divinity in two hundred and 
fifty expository lectures on the assembly's shorter catechism. It 
is considered as a work of great merit— 'Peinberton's sermons, 130 
— 144 ; Panofilist^ iii. 97 — 101 ; Collect, hist. soc. viii. 182 ; ix. 
193 ; X. 168. 

WILLARD (Josiah), secretary of Massachusetts, was the son 
of the preceding and was graduated nt Harvard college in 1698. 
After being for some time a tutor in that seminary he visited the 
West Indies and England, retaining every where the purity of his 
moral character, and the correctness of his religious views. In 
June 1717 the king appointed him secretary of his native province, 
and he was continued in that station thirty nine years till his death. 
He was also a judge of the probate of wills and a member of the 
council. He died December 6, 1756, in the seventy sixth year of 
his age. While he cominanded the highest respect in the public 
offices, which he sustained, his heart was the abode of all the Christ- 
ian virtues. His zeal for religion was united with the deepest hu- 
mility. He ever was conscious of his ill desert, and this consciousness 
made him admire the love and condescension of a divine Savior, 
on whose righteousness he rested his whole hope of salvation.— 
Sewall's and Prince's sermons, and judge Oliver's jiocm on his death ; 
Miriot, i. 304. 

WILLARD (Joseph, D.D. ll.d.), president of Harvard college, 
was born at Biddeford, Massachusetts, December 29, 1738, and was 
the son of the reverend Samuel Willard, grandson of vice president 
Willard. He was graduated at Harvard college in 1765, and was 
afterwards a tutor in that seminary about six years. He was or- 
dained November 25, 1772, as colleague with the reverend Mr^ 
Champney, minister of the first church in Beverly, where he con- 
tinued in the high esteem of the people of his charge till he was 
elected in the place of Dr. Lungdon to the presidentship of Harvard 
college. Into this office he was inducted December 19, 1781. 
Durinc: the last six vears of his life his usual health was unsettled. 



WIL. 607 

He died at New Bedford September 25,1 804, in the sixty sixth year 
of his age. His successor is the reverend Dr. Samuel Webber. 

President Willard was particularly distinguished for his acquaint- 
ance with classical literaturc and with mathematical and astronom- 
ical science. His attainments in Greek learning have been equalled 
by few in America. At the head of the university he mingled pa- 
ternal tenderness with strict authority, and by his dignified person 
and deportment united with candor, generosity, and benevolence, he 
secured at the same time respect and affection. He was remark- 
ably punctual and faithful in attending to the various duties of his 
office. As a preacher of the gospel, intent upon the great object of 
the ministry, that of doing good, he was plain, and less anxious to 
display his critical learning than to impart the most useful instruc- 
tion. He sincerely believed the doctrines, which he preached. 
His integrity was unquestioned, and his piety, equally remote from 
the preciseness of superstition and the wildness of enthusiasm, was 
manifested by his resignation to the will of God under pains and af- 
flictions, by his constant devotion, and his exertions to promote the in- 
terests of the Redeemer's kingdom. He published a thanksgiving 
sermon, preached December 1783; a sermon at the ordination of Jo- 
seph M'Keen, 1785 ; a sermon on the death of Timothy Hiiliardj 
1790 ; asermon at the ordination of Hezekiah Packard, 1793 ; aLat- 
in address on the death of George Washington, prefixed to Tappan's 
discourse, 1800 ; andseveral mathematical and astronomical commu- 
nications in the memoirs of the American academy of arts and sci- 
ences.— Webber's eulogy ; Holmes' fun. scrm. ; Pearson's public lect. j 
Memoirs of Jmer. acad.'i. 1 — 61,70 — 80, 129 — 142; ii. 22 — 36. 

WHXIAMS (RoGEii), the father of Providence plantation, was 
born in Wales in 1699 and was educated at Oxford. After having 
been for some time a minister in the church of England, his non- 
conformity induced him to seek religious liberty in America. He 
arrived at Boston February 5, 1631. In April he was chosen an as- 
sistant to Mr. Skelton in the ministry at Salem. Such was his pu- 
ritanic zeal, that he contended for a complete separation from the 
English church, and even refused to join in fellowship with his breth- 
ren in Boston unless they would declare their repentance for having 
communed, before they came to this covmtry, with the church of 
England. He was of opinion also, that the magistrate might not 
punish the breach of the sabbath, or any violation of the precepts 
of the first table. Before the close of the summer he was obliged 
to retire to Plymouth, where he preached as an assistant to Mr. 
Smith about two years. In 1633 he I'eturned to Salem, and after 
the death of Mr. Skelton in 1634 was the sole minister of the 
church. His peculiar sentiments and conduct soon brought him 
before the court, where he was accused of asserting, that offences 
against the first table of the law ought not to be punished, unless 
they disturbed the public peace, that an oath ought not to be ten- 



608 WlL. 

dered to an unvcgenerate man, that a Christian should not pray with 
the vniregenerate, and that thanks ought not to be given afier the 
sacrament, nor after meat. He asserted, that the Massachusetts 
patent was invalid and unjust, because a fair purchase luid not been 
made of the Indians. He even refused to commune with the mem- 
bers of his own church, unless they would separate from the pol- 
luted and antichristian churches of New England. As he could 
not be induced to retract any of his opinions sentence of banish- 
ment Avas passed upon him in 1635. He obtained permission to 
remain till spring ; but as he persisted in preaching in his own 
house, orders were sent in January 1636 to seize him and send him 
to England. He escaped, and went with four of his friends to 
Seckhonck, now Rehoboth, and crossing the river laid the founda- 
tion of a town, which in acknowledgment of God's goodness to 
him he called Providence. He purchased the land honestly of the 
Indians, and while he enjoyed liberty of conscience himself he 
gi'antcd it to others. Having embraced the sentiments of the bap- 
tists, he was baptized in March 1639 by one of his brethren, and 
he then baptized about ten others. But he soon entertained doubts 
respecting the correctness of his principles ; the church, which he 
had formed, was dissolved ; and he came to the conclusion, that 
baptism ought not to be administered in any mode without an im- 
mediate revelation from heaven. At this period he studied the In- 
dian language and used his endeavors to impart to the savages the 
blessings of the gospel. In 1643 he went to England, as agent for 
the colonists to procure an act confirming their voluntary govern- 
ment. He obtained a charter, and returning with it landed at Bos- 
ton in September 1644. Though he was still under sentence of 
banishment, a letter of recommendation from some of the princi- 
pal members of parliament secured him from any interruption on 
his way to Providence. In 1651 he went again as an agent for the 
colony to England, and continued there till 1654. On his return 
he was chosen president of the government, in which station he 
was continued till 1657, when Mr. Benedict Arnold was appointed. 
Being zealous against the quakers, he in 1672 held a public dispute 
with three of their most eminent preachers, which occupied three 
days at Newport and one day at Providence. Of this dispute he 
afterwards published an account. He died in April 1683 at the age 
of eighty four years. He seems in the early part of his residence 
in this country to have been governed in some respects by a blind 
zeal ; but his memory is deserving of lasting honor for the cor- 
rectness of his opinions respecting liberty of conscience, and for 
the generous toleration, which he established. So superior was he 
to the meanness of revenge, and such was his ma^manimity, that 
he exerted all his influence with the Indians in favor of Massachu- 
setts, and ever evinced the greatest tt iendship for the colony, from 
which he had been driven. Eor some of its principal men he pre- 



WIL. 609 

served the hit^hest affection, and maintained a correspondence with 
them. In his controversial writings especially with Mr. Cotton 
respecting toleration he shows himself a master of argument. His 
talents were of a superior order. In the religious doctrines, which 
he embraced, he seems to have been remarkably consistent. The 
scriptures he read in the originals. Though his writings and his con- 
duct in the latter periods of his life evince, that he was under the in- 
fluence of the Christian spirit ; yet his mind was so shrouded in doubt 
and uncertainty, that he lived in the neglect of the ordinances ot 
the gospel. He did not contend, like the quakers, that they were 
superseded; but found himself incapable of determining to what 
church it was his duty to unite himself. He would pray and preach 
with all, who would hear him, of whatever denomination. If his 
conscience had been enlightened, one would suppose, it must have 
reproved him for not partaking of the sacrament also with different 
sects. His first baptism he appeal's to have renounced, not so much 
because he was dibsatisfied with the time or the mode of its admin- 
istration, as because it was received in the chuixh oi England, which 
he deemed antichristian. He published a key to the language of 
America or a help to the tongue of the New England Indians, 8vo, 
1643, which has been lately reprinted in the collections of the Mas- 
sachusetts historical society ; an answer to Mr. Cotton's letter con- 
cerning the power of the magistrate in matters of religion ; the 
bloody tenet of persecution for the cause of conscience, 1 644 ; the 
bloody tenet yet more bloody by Mr. Cotton's endeavor to wash it 
white in the blood of the Lamb, &C. to which is added a letter to 
Mr. Endicot, 4to, 1652 ; the hireling ministry none of Christ's, or 
a discourse on the propagation of tlie gospel of Christ Jesus ; ex- 
periments of spiritual life and health, and their preservatives, Lon- 
don, 1652; George Fox digged out of his burrows, 1676, wliich 
Avas written against Fox and Burrowes, and gives an account of his 
dispute with the quakers. An answer to it was published in 1678, 
entitled, a New England fire brand quenched. An interesting letter 
of Mr. Williams to major Mason is preserved in the collections of 
the historical society. — Winthrofi, 23, 25, 57, 60, 84 — 92, 103 — 105, 
273,356; Callender ; .A'ea/'s A*. £. i. 158 — 160; ilfo;YO?2, 86 — 90; 
Hutchimouy i. 37 — 39, 118, 138 ; Backus' abridg. 27 — 109, 130 ; 
Mather's magnalia^ vii. 7 — 9 ; ^davis' JY. E. 54 — 61 ; Morse and 
Parish's AT. E. 163 — 169 ; Collect, hist. soc. i. 275 ; iii. 203 — 239 ; 
V. 80 — 105; vi. 144, 231, 245 — 250; vii. iii — iv ; viii. 1 — 4; ix. 
20 — 26; x. 15 — 23. 

WILLIAMS (John), first minister of Deerfield, Massachusetts, 
was born in Roxbury December 10, 1664, and was graduated at 
Harvard college in 1683. In May 1686 he was ordained at Deer- 
field, a frontier town, much exposed to the incursions of tiie savages. 
In the beginning of 1704 information was received from colonel 
Schuyler of Albany of tlie designs of the enemy og;i',nst Deerfield,. 



610 WIL. 

and the government at the solicitation of Mr, Williams ordereCf 
twenty soldiers its a guard. In the night of Februaiy ihe twenty 
eighth the watch patroled the streets, but betore morning tlicy went 
to sleep. Three hundred French and Indians, who had been 
hovering about the town, when they perceived all to be quiet, sur- 
prised the garrison house. A party of them then broke into the 
house of Mr. Williams, who, as soon as he was awakened, snatched 
his pistol from the tester, and put it to the breast of the first Indian, 
who approached. It missed fire, and it was well that it did ; other- 
wise his scalp would have instantly been taken off by other savages, 
who now surrounded his bed. They seized and bound him. Two 
of his children and a negro woman of his family were taken to the 
door and murdered. His wife, who was the only daughter ol Mr. 
Mather of Northampton, and all his surviving children, excepting 
his eldest son, who was absent, with himself were compelled imme- 
diately to begin their march towards C'anada. In wading through a 
small river on the second day Mrs. Williams, who had hardly recov- 
ered from a late confinement, and was much fatigued, fell down ; and 
Soon afterwards the Indian, who took her, killed her with his hatchet. 
About twenty other prisoners were murdered, because their strength 
began to fail them in travelling through the wilderness. At length 
after witnessing the most agonizing scenes during a journer of three 
hundred miles Mr. Williams arrived in Canada. Here new trials 
awaited him, for every exertion was made to convert this heretic to 
popery. His Indian master, after seeing the inefiicacy of other 
methods, lifted his hatchet over the head of his prisoner, and threat- 
ened to burv it in his brains, if he did not instantly cross himself and 
kiss a crucifix; but Mr. Williams was governed by too elevated 
principles to be made to violate conscience from regard to his life. 
He was redeemed in 1706. One of his daughters he was u'lable to 
bring with him. She had become assimilated to the Indians, and 
afterwards married one of them and embraced the Roman catholic 
religion. Settling again in Deerfield, he continvied in that place 
till his death June 12, 1729, in the sixty fifth year of his age. He 
was succeeded by Mr. Ashley. His three eldest sons, Eleazer, 
Stephen, and Warham, were ministers of Mansfield, Springfield, 
and Watertown, and were highly respected and useful. He pub- 
lished a sermon preached at Boston lecture after his return from 
(Canada; God in the camp, 1707; the redeemed captive, 12mo, 
Avhich gives a minute account of his sufferings, and has passed 
through two or three editions ; a serious word to the posterity of 
holy men, calling upon them to exalt their fathers' God, being the 
alvitract of a number of sermons, 1729 — Redeemed cafUive ; Fox- 
croft^ s aermon on his death ; Weekly ijenvsletter^number 1 30 ; Holmes* 
annal.i, ii. 63, 124 ; Hiitchinnon^ ii. 137 — 139. 

WILLIAMS (William), minister of Hatfield, Massachusetts* 
was graduated at Harvard college in 1683. After a ministry of 



WIL. 611 

Gonsiderable length he died at an advanced age very suddenly about 
the year 1746. He was a man ot distmguished talents. His wife 
was the daughter of the reverend Mr. Stoddard. He published a 
sermon at the ordination of Stephen Williams, 1716 ; the great sal- 
vation explained in several sermons, 1717 ; election sermon, 1719 ; 
a sermon at the ordination of Warham Williams, 172 3 ; at the or- 
dination of Nehemiah Bull of Westfield ; convention sermon, 1726 ; 
a sermon on the death of Solomon Stoddard, 1729; the duty and 
interest of a Christian people to be steadfast ; directions to obtain a 
true conversion, 1736; a sermon on the death. of his wife, 1745. — 
Collect, hist. soc. X. 157. 

WILLIAMS (Eliska), president of Yale college, was the son 
of the preceding and was graduated at the university of Cambridge 
in 1711. He was afterwards the minister of Newington in Weth- 
ersfield, Connecticut. In 1726 he was inaugurated president in the 
place of Dr. Cutler ; but his impaired health induced him in Octo- 
ber 1739 to resign his office, and Mr. Clap succeeded him. He 
now lived at Wethersfield and was soon inade a justice of the supe- 
rior court. In 1745 he went as chaplain in the expedition against 
cape Breton. In the following year he was appointed colonel of a 
regiment on the proposed expedition against Canada. He after- 
wards went to England, where he married a lady of superior ac- 
complishments. He died at Wethersfield July 24, 1750, aged sixty 
years. Dr. Doddridge, who was intimately acquainted with him, 
represents him as uniting in his character " an ardent sense of re- 
ligion, solid learning, consummate prudence, gieat candor and 
sweetness of temper, and a certain nobleness of soul, capable of con- 
triving and acting the greatest things, without seeming to be con- 
scious of his having done them." He presided at commencements 
with great dignity. He published a sermon on divine grace, 1727; 
a sermon on the death of Thomas Ruggles, 1728. — Clafi's hist. Yale 
college^ 35 — 39 ; Holmen' life of Stiles, 388 — 390 ; Miller, ii. 3-0,; 
JLockioood's sermon on his. death} Collect, hist. soc. yi. 157; Chand- 
ler's life of Johnson, 61. 

WILLIAMS (Solomon, d.d.), minister of Lebanon, Connecti- 
cut, was the brother of the preceding, and was graduated at Harvard 
college in 1719. He was ordained December 5, 1722, and died, it 
is believed, in 17{J9, having been oneof the distinguished men of 
his day. He published a sermon at the ordination of Jacob Eliot at 
Goshen in Lebanon, 1750; on the death ot John Robinson, 1739; 
a sermon on a day of prayer; election sermon, 1741 ; on the death 
of Eleazer Williams, 1743; Christ the kina; and witness of t«e 
truth, 1744; a vindication of the scripture doctrine of justifying 
faith, in answer to Andrew Croswell, 1746; the true state of the 
question concerning the qualifications for communion, in answer to 
Jonathan Edwards, 1751. 



612 WIL. 

WILLIAMS (Ephraim), founder of Williams college in Mas- 
sachusetts, was the son ol colonel Ephraim Williams of Newlon, 
MTho was afterwards one of the first settlers of Stockbridge. In early 
life he made several voyages to Europe. Possessing untommon 
miiit.-iry taieiits, in the war between England and France from 1740 
to 1748 he found opportunity to exert thetn. The couimand of the 
line ot the Massacluisetts forts on the west side of Connecticut river 
was entrusted to him. At this period he resided chiefly at Hoosack 
fort, which stood on the back of Hoosack river in Adams, and he 
also commanded a small fort at Williamstown three or four miles 
distant. In 1755 he took the command of a regiment and joined 
general Johnson to the northward of Albany. On the morning of 
the eighth of September he was sent out at the head of a thousand 
men with about two hundred Indians to skirmish with the enemy 
near lake George. He was ambuscaded, and in the action, which 
took place, he was killed, being a little more than forty years of age. 
His p-irty retreated to the main body, and in another engagement 
on the same day the enemy were reptdsed,and baron Dieskau taken 
prisoner. Colonel Williams was a brave soldier, and was beloved 
by his troops. He was affable and facetious. His politeness and 
address gained him great influence in the general court. He be- 
queathed his property to the establishment of a free school in the 
township west of fort Massachusetts on the condition, that the town 
should be called Williamstown. In 1785 trustees were appointed; 
in 1791 the school was opened; and in 1793 it was incorporated as 
a college, under the presidency of the reverend Dr. Fitch. It is 
now a flourisliing seminaiy, which does honor to the munificence 
of its founder, and to the liberality of the general court, which has 
patronised it.— Col ect. hist. soc. \'ni. 47 — 53; Holmes^ annals^ ii. 
211, 212; Marshall, i. 396. 

WILLIAMS (NEHEMiAH),minister of Brimfield, Massachusetts, 
was the son of the reverend Chester Williams of Hadley, and was 
graduated at Harvard college in 1769. He was ordained in 1775. 
His death took place in 1796. As a preacher he was distinguished 
for the energy and pathos, with which his discourses we.e delivered, 
and he was an able advocate of the doctrines, embraced by strict 
Calvinists. He was one of the first members of the American acad- 
emy of arts and sciences. His life was most holy and benevolent, 
but on his dying bed he declared, that his hope of salvation rested 
wholly upon the free and sovereign mercy of God through Jesus 
Christ. At the moment of his departure he cried, " I have finished 
tny course with joy," and clasping his hands as in devotion expired 
without a groan or a struggle. A posthumous volume of twenty 
four of his sermons was published. — M'lv York thcolog. 7nag. ii. 

WILLIAMS (Otho Holland), a brave officer in the revolution- 
ary war, held a command in the Maryland line, and was deputy ad- 
jutant general of the American army. In the letrcat of Greene 



WIL. 613 

from South Carolina to Virginia in the beginning of 1781 colonel 
Williams was entrusted with the command of the light corps in 
the place of the brave general Morgan, who was indisposed, and by 
his manoeuvres he greatly embarrassed Cornwallis in his pursuit. 
After the war he resided at Baltimore. He died while on a journey, 
July 15, 1794, in the forty fifth year of his age. He was a firm 
and disinterested patriot, as well as a gallant soldier. In the rela- 
tions of private life his conduct secured esteem. — Gordon, iii. 448, 
469 ; iv. 43 ; Gazette of the U. S. Julj 22, 1794. 

WILSON (John), first minister of Boston, was born at Wind- 
sor, England, in 1588, and was the son of the reverend Dr. William 
Wilson. He was educated at king's college, Cambridge, where he 
obtained a fellowship ; but was deprived of it for his nonconformity 
to the English church. After studying law for thi-ee years at one 
of the Inns of court, he directed his attention to theology, and was 
a chaplain in several honorable families. He was then settled in 
the ministry at Sudbury in Suffolk. In 1630 he came to this coun- 
try in the same fleet with governor Winthrop and the first settlers 
of Massachusetts. In the beginning of July Chai^lestown was fixed 
upon as a place of settlement, and Mr. Wilson and Mr. Phillips 
preached under a tree. A church was formed on Friday the thir- 
tieth ol July, and on the twenty seventh of August Mr. Wilson was 
ordained as teacher by the imposition of hands. This ceremony 
was performed by some of the orethren merely as a sign of his elec- 
tion to be their minister and not because he had renounced his for- 
mer ordination. In a few months, when the greater part of his church 
removed across the river to Shawmut, or Boston, he accompanied 
them. In 1631 he returned to England for his wife, whom he had 
left behind, enjoining it upon governor Winthrop and some other 
brethren to " prophesy," or to impart instruction and give exhorta- 
tions in the church during his absence. In October 1632 thirty 
three members were dismissed to form a new chuixh at Charles- 
town. They had Mr. James for their pastor, to whom Mr. Symmes 
was soon united as teacher. In November Mr. Wilson was again 
ordained as pastor. In the following year he received Mr. Cotton 
as his colleague, and after his death Mr. Norton in 1653 or 1654. 
He survived them both. His death took place August 7, 1667 at 
the age of seventy eight years. Mr. Davenport succeeded him. 
Mr. Wilson was one of the most humble, pious, and benevolent 
men of the age, in which he lived. Kind affections and zeal were 
the prominent traits in his character. Such was his readiness to 
relieve the distressed, that his purse was often emptied into the 
hands of the needy. Every one loved him, and he was regarded as 
the father of the new plantation. He appears fre ;uently to have 
possessed a particular faith in prayer. Events sometimes took 
place according to his predictions. The blessings pronounced by 
hin^ had be«n observed to be so prophetical, that on his death bed 



614 WIL. 

the most consiJevable persons brought their children to him to re- 
ceive his benediction. Hiwing a most wonderful talent at rhyming, 
he used to write pieces of poetry on all occasions and to send them 
to all persons, He was also a great anagrammatist. Dr. Mather 
thinks, that he made more anagrams, and made them more nimbly, 
than any man since the days of Adam. They generally conveyed 
some religious truth or advice. But it was not always the case, 
tiiat the letters of his anagram corresponded with those of the name. 
It was perhaps in pleasant allusion to this discordance, as well as in 
reference to the hospitable temper ot Mr. Wilson, that Mr. Ward, 
the witty author of the simple cobler of Aggawan», said that the 
anagram of John Wilson was, " 1 pray, come in, you are heartily 
welcome." In the early periods of his life his discourses were very 
correct ; but as he advanced in years his sermons consisted princi- 
pally of exhortations, admonitions, and counsels without much con- 
nexion or method, but delivered with afi'ectionate warmth. He 
partook of the common error of his times in calling upon the civil 
magistrate to punish those, who were deemed heretical in doctrine. 
His portrait is in the library of the historical society. He published 
in England some helps to faith, 12mo. In this country an extem- 
porary sermon, which he preached at a lecture in 1665, was taken 
down by a stenographer and afterwards published. — Tl'iiithro/i, 20, 
25, 44, 87, 89, 119 ; Frhicc, i. 212, 243, 247 ; ii. 69 — 73 ; Morton^ 
194 ; Johnson, 39, 40, 55,74 ; Magnalia, i. 22 ; iii. 41 — 51 ; Mai's 
.A. E. \. 148, 365 — 367; Hutchinson, i. 61, 258 ; Holmes^ annals., i. 
254 — 256, 267, 401. 

WILSON (James, ll.d.), an associate justice of the supreme 
court of the United States, after having been a member of congress 
from Pennsylvania, received the above appointment at the com- 
mencement of the preseiit government, in October 1789. In 1797 
he was appointed the first professor of law in the university of Penn- 
sylvania. He delivered a course of lectures, but died soon after the 
delivery of them. They are preserved in his works, published in 
3 vols. Svo, 1804. American mag. March 1788 ; Debates of conven- 
tion of Pennsylvania ; Rees* cijclofi. art. college. 

WINCHESTER (Eliianan), an itinerant pixiacher of the doc- 
trine of restoration, was born in Brookline, Massachusetts, in 1751. 
Without an academical education he commenced preaching, and was 
the first minister of the baptist church in Newton. In 1778 he 
was a minister on Pedee river in South Carolina, zealously teach- 
ing the Calvinistic doctrines, as explained by Dr. Gill. In the fol- 
lowing year his labors were very useful among the negroes. In 
1781 he became a preacher of universal salvation in Philadelphia, 
where he remained several years. He afterwards endeavored to 
]>ropagate his sentiments in various parts of America and England. 
He died at Hartford, Connecticut, in April 1797 in the forty sixth 
year of his age. His system is very similar to that of Dr.Chauncy 



WIN. 615 

He published a volume of hymns, 1776 ; a plain political catechism 
for schools ; a sermon on universal restoration, 1781 ; universal res- 
toration in four dialogues, 1786 ; a course of lectures on the proph- 
ecies, Amer. edit. 2 Vols. 8vo, 1800. — Backus^ iii. 152 — 155 ; Pref. 
to dialogues ; Pierce''s cent, discourse^ 13. 

WINSLO W (Edward), governor of Plymouth colony, was 
born in 1594, and c.\me to this country with the first settlers of 
New England in 1620. Possessing great activity and resolution, 
he was eminently useful. In 1 623 he visited Masassoit at Narragan- 
set to afford him some relief and comfort in his sickness, and the 
grateful sachem in return disclosed a plot of the Indians for exter- 
minating the English. He v/ent repeatedly to England as an agent 
for the colony. In 1633 he was chosen governor in the place of 
Mr. Bradford, and again in 1636 and 1644. He exerted his influ- 
ence in England to iorm the society for propagating the gospel in 
New England, which was incorporated in 1649, and of which he 
was an active member. In 1655 he was appointed one of the com- 
missioners to superintend the expedition against the Spaniards in 
the West Indies. The troops were defeated by an inconsiderable 
number of the enemy near St. Domingo. In the passage between 
Hispaniola and Jamaica Mr. Winslow died of a fever May 8, 1655, 
in the sixty first year of his age. He published good news from 
New England, or a relation of things remarkable m that plantation, 
to which is annexed an account of the Indian natives, 1623. His 
account is republished in Belknap, and the whole work is abridged 
in Purchas. Mr. Winslow published also hypocrisy unmasked, 
relating to the concimunion of the independent with the reformed 
churches, 1646. — Belknafi's Amer. biog. ii. 281 — 309,451 — 462; 
Morton^ 153, 154 ; Magnalia, ii. 6, 7 ; Prince., 85, 103, 105, 119, 
129, 145, 153 ; Hutchinson., i. 187 ; Ho hues' annals, i. 367 ; Pur~ 
chas' /iilgri?ns, v. 1853 — 1871. 

WINSLOW (Josiah), governor of Plymouth, was the son of 
the preceding, and was chosen governor in 1673 as successor of 
Mr. Prince, and was continued in this office till 1680. In Philip's 
war, being commander of the Plymouth forces, he evinced himself a 
brave soldier. He died at Marshfield December 18, 1680 in the 
fifty second year of his age. — Morton, supfile7n. 207 ; Magnalia, ii. 
7 ; Belknafi's Amer. biog. ii. 308 ; JVeaCs A. E.xi. 41 ; Hutchinson, 
i. 276, 286, 299 ; Holmes' annals, i. 452. 

WINSLOW (John), major general in the British service, was 
the grandson of the preceding. He was a captain in the unfortu- 
nate expedition to Cuba in 1740, and afterwards major general in 
the several expeditions to Kennebeck, Nova Scotia, and Crown 
Point in the French wars. He died at Hingham in April 1774 aged 
seventy one years. — Bclkfia/i's Amer. biog. 'n. 309; Minot, i. 217, 
224,273,281—297; Holmes' annals, 'n. 2.\&. 



616 WIN. 

WINTHROP (John), first governor of Massachusetts, was born 
at Groton in Suffolk June 12, 1587, and was bred to the law. Hav- 
ing converted a fine estate of six or seven hundred pounds sterling 
per annum into money, he embarked for America in the forty third 
year of his age as the leader of those persons, who settled the colo- 
ny of Massachusetts, and with a commission as governor. He ar- 
rived at Salem June 12, 1630, and soon removed to Charlestown, 
and afterwards crossed the river to Shawmut or Boston. In the 
three following years he was rechosen governor, for which office he 
was eminently qualified. His time, his exertions, his interest were 
all devoted to the infant plantation. In 1634 Mr. Dudley was chos- 
en in his place, but he was reelected in the years 1637, 1638, and 
1639, and in 1642, 1643, 1646, 1647, and 1648. He died, worn 
out by toils and depressed by afflictions, March 26, 1649, in the 
sixty third year of his age. Mr Endicot succeeded him. Gover- 
nor Winthrop was a most faithful and upright magistrate and ex- 
emplary Christian. He at first was very mild in the administration 
of justice ; but he afterwards yielded to the opinions of others, who 
thought that severer discipline was necessary in a new plantation. 
Not having a high opinion of a pure democracy, when the people of 
Connecticut were about forming a government, he wrote them a 
letter, in which he observed, *' the best part of a community is al- 
ways the least, and of that least part the wiser are still less." In a 
speech to the general court he took occasion to express his senti- 
ments concerning the power of tlie magistracy and the liberty of >he 
people. " You have called us", said he, " to office, but being called, 
we have authority from God, it is the ordinance of God, and hath 
the image of God stamped upon it ; and the contempt of it hath 
been vindicated by God vt^ith terrible examples of his vengeance. — 
There is a liberty of corrupt nature, which is inconsistent with au- 
thority, impatient of restraint, the grand enemy of truth and peace, 
and all the ordinances of Ciod are bent against it. But there is a 
civil, moral, federal liberty, which consists in every one's enjoying 
his property, and havin;< the benefit of the laws of his country, a 
li'oerty for that only, which is just and good ; for this liberty you 
are to stand with your lives." In the course of his life he repeat- 
edly experienced the versatility of the public opinion ; but when he 
was left out of office, he possessed perfect calmness of mind, and 
still exerted himself to serve his country. In severe trials his mag- 
nanimity, wisdom, and patience were conspicuous. He denied 
himself many of the elegancies of life, that he might give an exam- 
ple of frugality and temperance, and might exercise liljerality with- 
out impoverishing his lamily. He wascondesceiidingand benevolent. 
In a severe winter, when wood was scarce, he was told, that a neigh- 
bor was wont to help himself from the pile at his door. '' Does 
he ?" Slid the governor in seeming anger; "call him to me, and I 
will take a course with him that shall cure him of stealing." When 



WIN. 617 

the man appeared, he addressed him *hus, " friend, it is a cold win- 
ter, and I hear you are meanly provided with wood ; you are wel- 
come to help yourself at my pile till the winter is over." He after- 
wards merrily asked his mformant, whether he had not put a stop 
to the man's stealing ? Though he was rich when he came to this 
country, yet through his devotion to public business, while his 
estate was managed by unfaithful servants, he died poor. He was 
so much of a theologian, that he sometimes gave the word of exhor- 
tation in the church. His zeal against those, who had embraced 
erroneous doctrines, diminished in his latter years. He was always 
careful in his attendance upon the duties of public and of family 
worship. Governor's island in the harbor of Boston was granted 
to him, and still remains in the possession of his descendants. He 
procured a law against the heathenish practice of health drinking. 
From his picture it appears, that he wore a long beard. He kept 
9n exact account of occurrences and transactions in thp colony down 
to the year 1644, which was of great service to Hubbard, Mather, 
and Prince. It was not published till the year 1790, when it was 
printed in octavo. — f His journal ; Mather* a inagnalia.) ii. 8—15; 
Belknafi's Amer. blog. ii. 337 — 358 ; Morton^ 142 ; JVeuCs M. E.\, 
146, 294 ; Hutchinson^ i. 12—40 ; 55 — 75, 147, 151 ; Jdams' A, 
E. 2 9, 79 ; Mod. univers. hist, xxxix. 292, 293, 

WINTHROP (John, F. R.s ), governor of Connecticut, was 
the son of the preceding, and his fine genius was impi'oved by a 
liberal education in the universities of Cambridge and of Dublin, 
and by travel upon the continent. He arrived at Boston in October 
1635, with authority to make a settlement in Connecticut, and the 
next month despatched a number of persons to build a fort at Say- 
brook. He was chosen governor in 1657 and again in 1659, and 
from that period he was annually reelected till his death. In 1661 
he went to England and procured a charter, incorporating Connecti- 
cut and New Haven into one colony. He died at Boston April 5, 
1676, in the seventy first year of his age. He possessed a rich va- 
riety of knowledgo, and was particularly skilled in chemistry an.d 
physic. His valuable qualities as a gentleman, a Christian, a phi- 
losopher, and a magistrate secured to him universal respect. He 
published some valuable communications in the philosophical trans- 
actionB.— •T'rz^nfiu//'* Connect, i. 258, 261, 362 ; Magnal c^ ii. 30— 
33 ; Bdknaii's Amer. biog. ii. 359 — 362 ; Holmes* anyials, i. 382, 
438. 

WINTHROP (JoiiK, LL. D. F. R. s), Hollis professor of math- 
ematics and natural philosophy in Harvard college, was the son of 
the honorable Adam Winthrop, a member of the council, and a 
descendant of the governor of Massachusetts. He was graduated 
at the university of Cambridge in 1732. In 1738 at the age of 
twenty four years he was appointed professor in the [„lace of Mr. 
Greenwood. He immediately entered upon the duties of this of- 
79 



610 WIN. 

fice and discharged ihcm with fidelity and high reputation through: 
Hie. In 1761 he sailed to St. John's in Newtoundiand to observe 
the transit of Venus over the sun's disk on the sixth ot June agree- 
ably to the recommendation of Mr. Halley. When the day arrived, 
he was favored with a tine, clear morning, and he enjoyed the inex- 
pressible satisfaction of observing a phenomenon, wliich had never 
before been seen, excepting by Mr. Horrox in 1639, .^y any inhab- 
itant of this earth. In 1773, when the controveisy with Great 
Britain began to grow warm, he was ctiosen a member of the coun- 
cil, and evinced himself a firm friend of his country. He was re- 
chi/sen in the following year, but his election was annulled by the 
governor in compliance with an express roy;.l mandate. This tes- 
timony of his majesty's displeasure on account of his attachment 
to the rights of America, he ever esteemed as the highest honor, 
which a corrupt court could bestow. When liie British authority 
terminated in Massachusetts he was reelected a counsellor. After 
having been a professor for more that iorty years he died at Cam- 
bridge May 3, 1779, in the sixty fifth year of his age. He was suc- 
ceeded by Mr. Williams. Dr, Winthroj) was distinguished for his 
very intimate acquaintance with mathemutical science. The most 
obstruse reasonings of Newton's principia were familiar to him, and 
few philosophers of his day possessed greater \igor and penetration 
of mind. His talents in investii^;ating and communicating truth 
were very rare. In the variety and extent of his knowledge he has 
seldom been equalled. While he wrote Latin witii purity and ele- 
gance, and studied the scriptures with critical attention in their 
original languages, he was also versed in several of the modern 
languages of Europe. He had deeply studied the policies of differ- 
ent ages ; he had read the principal fathers ; and he was thoroughly 
acquainted with the controversy between Christians and deists. 
His firm faith in the Christian religion was founded upon an accu- 
rate examination of the evidences of its truth, and the virtues of his 
life added a lustre to his intellectual powers and scientific attainments. 
In his family he devoutly maintained the worship of the supreme 
Being. While he himself attended upon the positive institutions 
of the gospel, he could not conceive what reason any one, who called 
himself a Christian, could give fi)r neglecting them. The day 
before his death he observed to a friend, that the wise me.t of antiq- 
uity by every plausible argument endeavored to prove the reality of 
a future state, but that the wise men of modern times had bent all 
their exertions to weaken the proofs of our immortal existence, and 
to undermine the only hope, which can sustain us at the close of 
life. " But," added he," the light thrown upon the doctrine of a 
future state with me amounts to demonstration. The hope, that is 
set before \is in liie New Testament, is the only thing, which will 
support a nran in his dying hour. If any man Iniilds on any other 
foundation, in my apprehension his foundation will fail." His ac- 



WIS. 619 

jiurate observations of the transit of Mercury in 1 740 were hon- 
orably nuticcci by tiie royal society of Lonaon and recorded ii) 
the iorty second volume of its transactions. He pubiisiied a lec- 
ture on earthquakes 1755; answer to Mr. Prince's letter upon 
eartiiquukes, 1756; two lectures on comets, 1759 ; uu account of 
several fiery meteors seen in North America, 1765. — Langdon'sand 
Howard's sermons, IVigg/eaivorth's lecture, and SenvaU's oration on 
his d^ath; Mwisa. mag. iv. 231—233 ; Amtrican museum, vii. 229 
— 231 ; Holmes' annah, ii. 424 ; life of Stiles, 25 8 — 260 ; Miller, ii. 
373 ; Collect, hist, soc, x, 159 ; Indejiend. chronicle May 13, 1779. 

WISE (John), minisier of Ipswich, Massachusetts, was gradu- 
ated at Harvard college in 1673, and was soon afterwards ordained 
at Chebacco in Ipswich. In 1688 he was imprisoned by sir Ed- 
mund Andros for remonstrating with others agdnst the taxes as a 
grievance, because imposed without an asse'nbly. After the revo- 
lution he brought an action against Mr. Dudley, the chief justice, 
for denying him the benefits of the habeas corpus act. Being a 
chaplain in the unhappy expedition against Canada in 1690, he dis- 
tinguished himself not only by the pious discharge of the sacred 
office, but by his heroic spirit and nrartial skill. When a number 
of ministers signed proposals in 1705 for establishing associations, 
which should be entrusted with spiritual power, he exerted himself" 
:tvith effect to avert the danger, wliich threatened the congregational 
churches. In a book, whish he wrote upon this occasion, entitled, 
the churches* quarrel espoused, he exhibited no small share of the 
wit and satire of a former minister of Ipswich, Mr. Ward. He 
contended, that each church contains in itself all ecclesiastical au- 
thority. In 1721, when the inoculation of the small pox was first 
introduced, ne was one of those ministers, who approved of it. Mr. 
Stoddard of Northampton was another. Mr. Wise died April 8, 
1725 at an advanced age. He was enriched with the excellencies 
of nature and of religion, uniting a graceful form and majestic as- 
pect to a lively imagination and sound judgraent, and to incorrupti- 
ble integrity, unshaken fortitude, liberal charity, and fervent piety. 
His attachment to civil and religious liberty was zealous and firm. 
He was a learned scholar and eloquent orator. Being a friend to 
the peace of the churches, his services were often required in ec- 
clesiastical councils, and when he was bowing down under infirmi- 
ties he would go forth, wherever his benevolent labors were xlesired. 
In the beginning of his last sickness he observed to a brother in tlve 
gospel, that he had been a man of contention, but, as the state of 
the church made it necessary, he could say upon the most serious 
review of his conduct, that he had fought a good fight. ^^\. the 
same time he expressed a deep sense of his own unwo^lhiness in 
the sight of heaven, and a conviction, that he needed the divine 
jnercyand was entirely dependent on the free grace of God in Christ 
Jesus. He published the churches' quarrel espoused, 1710; and,a 



620 WIS. 

vindication of the government of the New England churches, about 
tlie year 1717 or 1718. It was reprinted in 1772. He contends, 
that the ecclesiastical government as established by Christ, and as 
existing in New England, was a democracy, and was best calculated 
for the advantage of all. — yl sermon on his death; Hutc/imson,i. 366, 
367; £ackus' abridg. ISO, 13\,\58 ; Holmes' anmls,i. 473 ; Stiles' 
Ch'istian uniorif 47. 

WISE (Jkhemiah), minister of Berwick, Massachusetts, was 
graduated at Harvard college in 1700, and was ordained as succes- 
sor of Mr John Wade November 26, 1707. His death took place 
in 175 6. He was a man of eminent piety and goodness. The 
learning, in which he made great proficiency, was that, Avhich was 
most cultivated in the age, in which he lived. He did not excel in 
polite learning or in philosophic reseeuxhes, but the scholastic dis- 
tinctions and refinements were familiar to him. He published a 
sermon on the death of Charles Frost, 1725 ; election sermon, 
1729 ; a sermon at the ordination of James Pike, 1730. — Sullivan's 
dist. Maine^ 246 ; Collect, hist. soc. x. 170. 

WITHERSPOON (John, d.d. ll.d.), president of the college 
of New Jersey, was born in Yester near Edinburgh, Scotland, Feb- 
ruary 5, 1722, and was lineally descended from John Knox. At 
the age of fourteen he entered the university of Edinburgh, where 
he continued till he reached the age of twenty one, when he was 
licensed to preach the gospel. In the theological hall he had evinced 
a taste in sacred criticism, a precision of thought, and a perspicuity 
of expression, which were very uncommon. He was soon ordained 
at Beith in the west of Scotland. Thence after a few years he was 
translated to Paisley. Here he lived in high reputation and great 
usefulness until he was called to the presidency of Princeton col- 
lege. So extensively was he known, that he was inviied to Dun- 
dee, to Dublin, and Rotterdam ; but less regardful ot personal in- 
terest than of what he conceived to be the claims of duly, he was 
persuaded to listen to the invitation fronr a distant country. He 
arrived with his family at Princeton, New Jersey, in the month of 
August 1768, and took the charge of a seminary, over which had 
presided a Dickinson, Burr, Edwards, Davies, and Finley, men dis- 
tinguished for genius, learning, and piety. His name brought a 
great accession of students to the college, and by his exertions its 
fu.ids were much augmented. But the war of the American revo- 
lution prostrated every thing. While the academical shades were 
deserted, and his functions as president were suspended, he was in- 
troduced into a new field of labor. As he becanic at once an A- 
merican on nis landing in this country, the citizens of New Jersey, 
%vho knew his distinguished ;ibilities, appointed him a member of 
the convention, which formed the constitution of that state. Here 
he appeared as profound a civilian, as he had before been known to 
be a philosopher and divine. From the revolutionary committees 



WIT. 621 

and conventions of the state he was sent early in 17^6 a represen- 
tative to the congress of United America. He was during seven 
years a member of that illustrious boiiy, and he was always collected, 
firm, and wise amidst the embarrassing circumstances, in which 
congress was placed. His name is affixed to the declaration of in- 
dependence. But while he was thxis engaged in political affairs 
he did not lay aside his ministry. He gladly embraced every op- 
portunity of preaching, for his character as a minister of the gos- 
pel he ever considered as his highest honor. As soon as the state 
of the country would permit, the college was reestablished, and its 
instruction was recommenced under the immediate care of tlie 
vice president, the reverend Dr. Smith. After the termination of 
the struggle for American liberty. Dr. Witherspoon was induced 
from his attachment to the college to cross the ocean, that he might 
promote its benefit. Though his success was not so great as could 
be wished, his enterprise and zeal were not the less deserving of 
commendation. After his return, he entered into that retiremenft, 
which was dear to him, and his attention was principally confined to 
the duties oi his office as president, and as a minister of the gos- 
pel. For more than two years before his death he was afflicted 
with the loss of sight ; but during his blindness he was frequently 
led into the pulpit, and he always acquitted himself with his usual 
accuracy and animation. At length he sunk under the pressure of 
his infirmities. He died November 15, 1794, in the seventy third 
year of his age. He was succeeded by Dr. Smith, who is now at 
the head of the college. 

Dr. Witherspoon, though not a man of the most extensive learn- 
ing, yet possessed a mass of information well selected and thor- 
oughly digested. Scarcely any man of the age had a more vigor- 
ous mind or a more sound understanding. As president of the 
college he rendered literary inquiries more liberal, extensive, and 
profound, and was the means of producing an important revolution 
in the system of education. He extended the study of mathemat- 
ical science, and it is believed he was the first man, who taught in 
America the substance of those doctrines of the philosophy of the 
mind, which Dr. Reid afterwards developed with so much success. 
He was very distinguished as a preacher. An admirable textuary, 
a profound theologian, perspicuous and simple in his manner, an 
universal scholar, acquainted intimately with human nature, a grave, 
dignified, and solemn speaker ; he brought all the advantages, de- 
rived from these sources, to the illustration and enforcement of di- 
vine truth. Though not a fervent and animated speaker, it was im- 
possible to, hear him without attention. His feelings Avere natiirally 
strong, but he had imposed restraints upon himself. All ostenta- 
tion in the pulpit he viewed with the utmost aversion. He loved 
to dwell on the great doctrines of divine grace. Tliougii he wrote 
his sermons, and committed them to memorv. vet as he was gov* 



622 WIT. 

erned by the desire of doing; good and wished to brins^ his discourses 
to the level of every understanding, he was not conhncd when ad- 
dressing his hearers within the boundaries of wliat he had written. 
His life was upright and holy. Besides the daily intercourse with 
heaven, which heheld in the closet, and occasional seasons of solemu 
recollection and devotion, he observed the last day of the year with 
his family as a day of fasting, humiliation, and prayer. To the 
young he Avas particularly attentive, taking every opportunity to im- 
part to them useful advice in the most agreeable manner. Having 
a rich fund of anecdote, his moments of relaxation were as enter- 
taining, as his serious ones Avcre instructive. The following anec- 
dote presents a specimen of his good humored wit. When Bur- 
goyne's army was captured at Saratoga, general Gates despatched 
one of his aids to congress to carry the intelli,,ence. The officer, 
after being delayed by amusements, which oftered themselves to 
hiiii on his way, at length arrived at Philadelphia, but the report of 
the victory had reached there several days before. Congress, ac- 
cording to custom, proceeded to«give the messenger some mark of 
their esteem. It was proposed to present him with an elegant 
sword ; but Dr. Witherspoon rose, and begged leave to move, that 
instead of a sword, they should present him with a pair of golden 
spurs. 

As a writer he holds a high rank. His knowledge of every sub- 
ject he handles is considered as extensive and accurate, his thoughts 
■weighty and condensed, his style simple, and his method very lucid. 
He exhibits great acquaintance with the world and with the human 
heart. His works are various, for he wrote on political, moral, lite- 
rary, and religious subjects. No one has more strikingly displayed 
the pernicious effects of the stage ; and his treatises on the nature 
and necessity of regeneration, justification by free grace through 
Jesus Christ, the imporrance of truth in religion, or the con- 
nexion between sound principles and a holy practice aie highly 
esteemed. Though a very serious writer, he yet possessed a fund 
of refined humor and delicate satire. In his ecclesiastical charac- 
teristics his wit was directed at certain corruptions in principle and 
practice, prevalent in the church of Scotland, and it is keen and 
cutting. That church was divided into two parties, of which one 
was desirous of extending the right of jiatronage, and the other 
wished to extend the hifluence of the people in the settlement and 
removal of mhiisters. The former, which was called the moderate 
party, was considered as not strictly evangelical in their sentiments 
and preaching; the latter, distinguished by the name of the ortho- 
dox, was zealous for the doctrines of grace and the articles contain- 
ed in the national confession of faith. It was against the moderate 
men, that the shafts of Dr. AVitherspoon's wit were aimed. He 
formed a union of those, who accorded with him, and became at 
length their leader. His works were published in 4 vols, with an 



WOL. 623 

svccountof his life by Dr. Rodgers, 8vo, 1802.^— Rodgers* sermon on 
his death i Massa. miss. mag. v. 1 — 10 ; Fiacataqua evaiig. mug. ai. 
41, 81, 121 ; Miller, ii. 376 ; Assembli/s 7ni6S. i7iag. i. i7 — 19. 

WOLCOTT (Roger), governor of Connecticut, Wus the son of 
a farmer, and was born at VVindsor January 4, 1679. His parents 
lived in a part of the country, which suffered much from the In- 
dians, and in the town there was neither a schoolmusler nor minis- 
ter, so that Mr. Wolcott was not a member of a common school for 
a single day in his life. When he was twelve years of age he was 
bound as an apprentice to a mechanic. At the age of twenty one, 
when the laws permitted him to enjoy the fruits of liis labors, he 
established himself on the east side of Connecticut river in the same 
town, in which he was born, where by the blessing of God upon his 
industry and frugality he acquired what was considered as a plenti- 
ful ^h'tune. He is an eminent proof of the power of talents and in- 
tegrity, in a free country, in raising one to distinction notwithstand- 
ing the disadvantages of education and of birth. He rose by degrees 
to the highest military and civil honors. In the expedition against 
Canada in 1711 he was commissary of the Connecticut forces, and 
at the capture of Louisbourg in 174o he bore the commission of ma- 
jor general. He was successively a member of the assembly and of 
the council, judge of the county court, deputy governor, chief judge 
of the superior court, and from 1751 to 1754 governor. He died 
May 17, 1767, in the eighty ninth year of his age. In all his ex- 
altation above his neighbors he exhibited no haughtiness of deport- 
ment, but was easy of access, free and affable, of ready wit and great 
humor. His literary attainments were such, that in conversation 
with the learned upon most subjects he secured respect. He was 
much attached to the peculiar doctrines of the gospel, and was for 
many years a member of a Christian church. Fro ii the year 1754, 
when his life was more retired, he devoted himself particularly to 
reading, meditation, and prayer. He was very careful in searching 
into himself, that he might perceive his own character, and know 
whether he was rescued from that depravity, to v/hich previously to 
the renewing agency of the divine Spirit the human mind is suo- 
jected, and whether he was interested in the salvation of the gospel. 
In his last moments he was supported by the hopes of the Christian, 
and he entered into his rest. He published poetical meditations, 
Avith a preface by Mr. Bulkley of Colchester, 1725 ; and a letter to 
Mr. Hobart in 1761, entitled, the new English congregational 
churches are and always have been consociated churches, and their 
liberties greater and belter founded in their platform, agreed upon 
at Cambridge in 1648, than in the agreement at Saybrook in 1708, 
A long poem, written by governor Wolcott, entitled, a brief account 
of the agency of John Winthrop in the court of Charles II in 1662 
in procuring the charter of Connecticut, is preserved in the collec- 
tions of the historical society. It describes with considerable mi- 



624 WOL, ^ 

nutcness the Pequot war. — Perry^s serm. on his death ; Devotion'* 
elect, serm. ; Collect, hint. hoc. iv. 262t-297. 

WOLCOT r (Erastus), a judge of the superior court of Con- 
necticut, was the son of the preceding, and was born about the 
year 1723. His early life was spent in the employments of agri- 
culture. Though he was not favored with the advantages of a lib- 
eral education, yet profiting by the various situations, in which he 
was placed, he gained much useful knowledge. In 1776 he com- 
manded a regiment of militia, and assisted in the investment of 
Boston. He was appointed a brigadier general in 1777, and went 
on an expedition to Peek's kill. He was repeatedly a member of 
congress. Towards the close of his life he resigned his office of 
judge. He died September 14, 1793, in the seventy first year of 
his age. Integrity and patriotism were united in his character with 
religion. He was a zealous friend to republican principles, a4|Bble 
advocate of the rights of his country. " His last illness he bore 
with a cheerful serenity and submission to the will of God. A 
short religious tract, written by him, was published at the close of 
the following. — M'Clui-e's sermon on his death. 

WOLCOTT (Oliver, ll. d.), governor of Connecticut, was 
the brother of the preceding, and was born about the year 1727. 
He was graduated at Yale college in 1747. He afterwards sustain- 
ed a captain's commission in the war witli the French. On retiring 
from military service he studied physic ; but his attention was 
drawn from this profession by his appointment as high sheriff of 
the county of Litchfield, which office he sustained about fourteen 
years. He was a member of the ever memorable congress, which 
agreed upon the declaration of independence in 1776, and hi- boldly 
advocated that measure. He was chosen governor in 1796, but 
<Jied December 1, 1797, aged seventy one years. Mr. Trumbull 
succeeded him. Incorruptible integrity an# unshaken firnmess 
•were conspicuous traits in the character of governor Wolcott. He 
was the friend of virtue and religion. In his last sickness he ex- 
pressed a deep sense of his personal unworthiness and guilt. For 
several days before his departure every breath seemed to bring with 
it a prayer, till at length he fell asleep. — Backus\funeral sermon. 

WOLFE (James), a major general in the British army, was bom 
at Westerham in Kent January 2, 1727. He entered young into 
the army, and soon distinguished himself as a brave and skilful offi- 
cer, tie was present at the battle o( Lafeldt and in every subse- 
quent engagement in Germany in the war, which terminated at the 
peace of Aix la Chapelle. After his return from the expedition 
against Louisbourg in 1758, he was immediately appointed to the 
command of one of the expeditions, destined against Canada in 
1759. He arrived at the island of Orleans in tiie neighborhood of 
Quebec late in Ji;ne. On the last of July he attacked the French 
intrcnchmcnts at Montmoronrv on the left bank of the St. Charles,, 



WOL. 625 

but his troops were thrown into disorder by the enemy's fire, and he 
was compelled to give orders for returning to the island. He now 
determined to effect a landhig above the city, and by scaling a prec- 
ipice to gain the heights back of the town, where it was but slightly 
fortified. He was fully aware of the temerity of the enterprise, 
but resolved to execute it. On the morning of the thirteenth 
of September, an hour before day break, he landed with a strong 
detachment about a mile above cupe Diamond. Ascending the 
precipice by the aid of the rugged projections of the rocks, 
and the branches of ti^ees and plants growing on the cliffs, the 
van gained the heights, and quickly dispersed a captain's guard, 
which had been entrusted with a four gun battery. The whole army 
was soon upon the heights of Abraham. Montcalm now perceived 
that a battle could no longer be avoided, and that the fate of Quebec 
depended on the issue. He immediately crossed the St. Charles, 
and marched to attack the English army. In the beginning of the ac- 
tion Wolfe received a ball in his wrist, but wrapping a handkerchief 
around his arm he continued to encourage his men. He soon re- 
ceived a shot in the groin, which he also concealed. He was ad- 
vancing at the head of the grenadiers with charged bayonets, when 
a third bullfet pierced his breast. Being conveyed into the rear, he 
still discovex'ed, in the agonies of deaths the most anxious solicitude 
concerning the fate of the day. Asking an officer to support him, 
while he viewed the field, " tell roe, sir," said he, " do the enemy- 
give way there, tell me, for I cannot see." His sight was dimmed 
and confused, and ahnost extinguished forever. Being told, that 
the enemy was visibly broken, he reclined his head from extreme 
faintness on the officer's arm ; but he was soon aroused by the cry of 
" they run, they run !" " Who run ?" exclaimed the hero. The 
officer replied," the French, they are beat, sir, they are flying before 
you." The general then said, " I am satisfied, my boys !" and almost 
instantly expired. This death of the illustrious Wolfe in the thirty 
third year of his age combines every circumstance to gratify the thirst 
for military glory. If the creatures of God were allowed to seek their 
own honor, and if men, destined for immortality, would choose to 
place this honor in having their names repeated, and their heroism 
applauded by future and unknown generations, perhaps no instance 
of a death more to be envied could be found in the annals of history. 
The body of Wolfe was carried to England, and a monument was 
erected to his memory in Westminster abbey. He was formed by 
nature for military greatness. His apprehension was quick and 
clear, his judgment sound, his courage daring perhaps to an extreme. 
With a temper lively and almost impetuous he was not subject to 
passion, and with the greatest independence he was free from pride. 
He was manly, yet gentle, kind, and conciliating in his manners. 
He was not only just, but generous ; and he searched out the objects 
of his charity and beneficence among his needy officers.—- AVw and 
80 



626 woo: 

gsn. biog. diet.; ./Annual register, i. 71 ; ii. 37—42, 241, 281— -283^ 
iii. 99 ; Marshall, i. 429, 442, 450—463 ; Boston fijst boy, October 
15, 1759. 

VVOODBRIDGE (John), first minister of Andover, Massachu- 
setts, was born in Wiitsliire, England, in 16 13, and after passing 
some time at Oxford pursued his studies in private. In 1634 lie 
came to this country with his uncle, the reverend Mr. Parker. 
He was ordained at Andover September 16, 1644 ; but upon th& 
invitation of his friends in England he returned to them in 1647. 
Bemg ejected by tlie Bartholomew act in 1662, he again sought a 
peaceful retreat in America, and became an assistant to Mr. Parker, 
After his dismission on account of his views of church discipline, 
he was a magistrate of the colony. He died March 17, 1695, in 
the eighty second year of his age. He lived to see three of his 
sons in the ministry, and four of his grandsons preparing for it. 
The piety, which he imbibed in his childhood, increased with his 
years. He possessed a wonderful command of his passions, and 
losses and afflictions did not shake his peace. Just before his death 
he refused a glass of wine, which wast)ffered him, saying, I am go- 
ing where I shall have better. — Mather's magnalia, iii. 219, 220; 
Nonconform, memorial, i. 292, 293 ; Pojikin's dedicat. serm. 

WOODBRIDGE (Benjamin, d. d.), the first graduate of Har- 
vard college, was the brother of the preceding and. was born in 1622. 
After he came to this country he was honored with the first laurels 
of the new seminary at Cambridge in 1642. On his return to En- 
gland he succeeded Dr. Twiss at Newbury, where he gained a high 
reputation as a scholar, a pi-eaclier, a casuist, and a Christian. After 
he was ejected in 1662 he continued to preach privately. He died 
at Inglefield in Berks November 1, 1684, aged si^ty two years, and 
was buried at Newbury. While his learning was considerable, his 
commanding voice and pleasing manner made him admired as a 
preacher. He published a sermon on justification by faith, 1653 ; 
the method of grace in the justification of sinners, against Mr, 
Eyre, 4to ; church members set in joint, against lay preachers, 
1656. He also publisned a work written by Mr. Noyes, entitled, 
Moses and Aaron, or the rights of the church and state, containing 
two disputations, 1661. It is believed that he wrote the ingenious 
lines for the tomb of Mr. Cotton, which are preserved in Mather's 
magnalia.— W^oocZ^s Athenx Oxmienses, ii. 774 — 776 ; JVonconform. 
memorial, i. 290 ; Collect. hi-<t, soc. x. 32 ; Magnalia, iii. 30, 31. 

WOODHOUSE (James), professor of chemistry in the univer- 
sity of Pennsylvania, died June 4, 1809, in the thirty ninth year of 
his age. He was eminent for his learning. Dr. John Redman 
Coy.e has been appointed his successor. He published an inaugu- 
ral dissertation on the chemical and medical properties of the per- 
simmon tree, and the analysis of astringent vegetables, 1792 ; the 
young chemist's pocket companion, connected with a portable lab.-* 



woo. 62=7 

f^ratory, 1797 ; an answer to Dr. Priestley's considerations on the 
doctrine ot phlogiston and the decomposition oi water, founded up- 
on demonstrative experiments, in the fourth volume of the transac- 
tions of the American philosophical society ; and an edition of 
Chaptul's chemistry, with valuable notes, 5 vols. 8vo, 1807. 

WOOSTER (David), major general in the revolutionary war, 
was born at Stratford in 171 1, and was graduated at Yale college in 
1738. At the commencement of the war with Great Britain he 
was appointed to the chief command of the troops in the service of 
Connecticut, and made a brigadier general in the continental ser- 
vice ; but this commission he afterwards resigned. In 1776 he was 
appointed the first major general of the militia of his native state. 
While opposing a detachment of British troops, whose. object was 
to destroy the public stores at Danbury, he was mortally wounded 
at Ridgfield April 27, 1 777, and died on the second of.May^ — Gordon^ 
ii. 464 ; Holmes^ annals, n. 374, 375 ; life of Stilesy3&2. 

WORTHINGTON (John, ll. d.), an eminent barrister, was 
graduated at Yale college in 1740. In 1774 he was a member of 
the legislature of Massachusetts, and opposed the measures of the 
friends of liberty. His name wasin the same year included in the 
list of the mandamus counsellors, but he declined the appointment. 
He died at Springfield in April 1800, aged eighty one years. Mr. 
Ames married his daughter. 

WYLLYS (George), governor of Connecticut in 1642, came 
from England to Hartford in 1638 and died in 1644. He was emi- 
nently pious, and from regard to the purity of divine worship leit a 
fine estate in the county of Warwick and encountered the hardships 
of a wilderness. His descendants are distinguished in the civil 
history of Connecticut. — Trumbull, i. 150; Holmes* life of Stiles, 15. 

W Y(THE (George), chancellor of Virginia, and a distinguished 
'friend of his country, was born in the county of Elizabeth city in 
1726. His father was a respectable farmer, and his. mother was a 
■woman of uncommon knov/jedgeand strength of mind. She taught 
the Latin language, with which she was intimately acquainted, and 
which she spoke fluently, to her son ; but his education was in other 
respects very much neglected. At school he learned only to read 
and write, and to apply the five first rules of arithmetic. His par- 
ents having died before he attained the age of twenty one years, 
like many unthinking youths he commenced a career of dissipation 
and intemperance, and did not disengage himself from it before he 
reached the age of thirty. He then bitterly lamented the loss of 
those nine years of his life, and of the learning, which during that 
period he might have acquired. But never did any man more ef- 
fectually redeem his time. From the moment,"when he resolved 
on reformation, he devoted himself most intensely to his studies. 
Without the assistance of any instructer he acquired an accurate 
Juiowiedge of the Greek, and he read the best authors in that as 



628 WYT. 

well as in the Latin language. He made himself also a profound 
lawyer, becoming perfectly versed in the civil and common law, and 
in the statutes ol Great liritain and Virginia. He was also a skil- 
ful mathematician, and was well acquainted with moral and natural 
philosopny. The wild and thouglitless youth was now converted 
into a sedate and prudent man, deiighling entirely in literary pur- 
suits. At this period he acquired tluit atiachnient to the Christian 
religion, which, though his hiiih was afterwards shaken by the difii- 
culties suggested by sceptical writers, never altogether forsook him. 
and towards the close of his life was renovateil and firmly establish- 
ed. Though he never connected himself with any sect of Christ- 
ians, yet for many years he constantly attended church, and the bi- 
ble was his favorite book. 

Having obtained a license to practise law, he took his station at 
the bar of the old general court with many other great men, whose 
merit has been the boast of \ irginia. Among them he was con- 
spicuous not for his eloquence, or ingenuity in maintaining a bad 
cause, but for his sound sense and learning, and rigid attachment to 
justice. He never undertook the support of a cause, which he 
knew to be bad, or which did not appe.ir to be just and honorable. 
He was even known, wiien he doubted the statement of his client, 
to insist upon his making an affidavit to its truth, and in every in- 
stance, where it was in his power, he examined the witnesses as to 
the facts intended to be proved belcre he brought the suit, or agreed 
to defend it. 

When the time arrived, which heaven had destined for the sep- 
eration of the wide, confederated republic of America from the do- 
minion of Great Britain, Mr. Wythe was one of the instruments in 
the hand of providence for accomplishing that great work. He 
took a decided part in the very first movements of opposition. Not 
content merely to fali in with the wishes of his fellow citizens, he 
assisted in persuading them not to submit to British tyranny. With 
a prophetic mind he looked forward to the event of an approaching 
war, and resolutely prepared to encoimter all its evils rather than 
to resign his attachment to liberty. With his pupil and friend, 
Thomas Jefferson, he roused the people to resistance. As the 
controversy grew warm, his zeal became proportionally fervent. 
He joined a corps ot volunteers, accustomed himself to military 
discipline, and w^as ready to march at the call of his country. But 
that country, to whose interests he was so sincerely attached, had 
otlier duties of more importance for him to perform. It was his 
destiny to obtain .distinction as a statcsnian, legislator, and judge, 
and not as a warrior. Before the war commenced, he was elected a 
meml)er of the Virginia assembly. Alter having been for some 
time speaker of the house of burgesses, he was sent by the mem- 
bers of that body as one of their delegates to the congress, which 
assembled May 18, 1775, and did not separate until it had declared 



WYT. 629 

the independence of America. In that most enlightened and patri- 
otic assembly he possessed no small share of influence. He was 
one of those, who signed the memorable declaration, by which the 
heroic legislators of this country pledged " their lives, their for- 
tunes, and their sacred honor" to maintain and defend its violated 
rights. But the voice of his native state soon called him from the 
busy scene, where his talents had been so nobly exerted. By a res- 
olution of the general assembly of Virginia, dated November 5, 
1776, Thomas Jefferson, Edmund Pendleton, George Wythe, 
George Mason, and Thomas Ludwell Lee were appointed a com- 
mittee to revise the laws of the commonwealth. This was a work 
of very great labor and difficulty. The committee of revisors did 
not disappoint the expectations of their country. In the com- 
mencement of their labors they were deprived of the assistance, 
which might have been received fi'om the abilities of Messrs. Ma- 
son and Lee by the death of the one and the resignation of the 
other. The remaining three prosecuted their task with indefatiga- 
ble activity and zeal, and June 18, 1779 made a report of one hun- 
dred and twenty six bills, which they had prepared. This reporf 
showed an intimate knowledge of the great principles of legislation, 
and reflected the highest honor upon those, who formed it. The 
people of Virginia are indebted to it for almost all the best parts 
of their present code of laws. Among the changes, then made 
in the monarchical system of jurisprudence, which had been pre- 
viously in foi'ce,'tke most important were eftected by the act abol- 
ishing the right of primogeniture, and directing the real estate of 
persons dying intestate to be equally divided among their children, 
or other nearest relations ; by the act for regulating conveyances, 
which converted all estates in tail into fees simple, and thus destroy- 
ed one of the supports of the proud and overbearing distinctions of 
particular families ; and finally by the act for the establishment of 
religious freedom. Had all the proposed bills been adopted by the 
legislature, other changes of great importance would have taken 
place. A wise and universal system of education would have been 
established, giving to the chiklren of the poorest citizen the oppor- 
ttmity of attaining science, and thus of rising to honor and extensive 
usefulness. The proportion between crimes and punishments 
would have been better adjusted, and malefactors would have been 
made to promote the interests of the commonwealth bv their 
labor. But the public spirit of the assembly could not keep pace 
with the liberal views of Wythe. 

After finishing the task of new modelling the laws, he was em- 
ployed to carry them into effect according to their true intent and 
spirit by being placed in the difficult office of judge of a court of 
equity. He was appointed one of the three judges of the high 
court of chancery, and afterwards sole chancellor of Virginia, in 
which station he continued until the day of his death, during a peri- 



€30 WYT. 

od of more than twenty years. His extraordinary disinterestedness 
and patriotism were now most conspicuously displayed. Altliough 
the salary, allowed him by the commonwealth, was extremely scan- 
ty, yet he contentedly lived upon it even in the expensive city of 
Richmond, and devo.ed his whole time to tlie service ot his country. 
With that contempt of wealth, which so remarkably distinguisiied 
him from other men, he made a present of one halt of his land in 
Elizabeth city to his nephew, and the purchase money of the re- 
mainder, v/hich he sold, was not paid him for many years. While 
he resided in Williamsburg he accepted the professorship of law in 
the college of William and Mary, but resigned it when his duties 
as chancellor required his removal to Richmond. His resources 
were therefore small ; yet with his liberal and charitable disposition 
he continued, by means of that little, to do much good, and always 
to preserve his independence. This he accomplished by temper- 
ance and economy. 

He was a member of the Virginia convention, which in June 
1788 considered the proposed constitution of the United States.- 
During the debates he acted for the most part as chairman. Being 
convinced, that the confederation was defective in tlie energy, nec- 
essary to prefierve the union and liberty of America, this venerable 
patriot, then beginning to bow under the weight of years, rose in 
the convention, and exerted his voice, almost too feeble to be heard, 
in contending for a system, on the acceptance of which he conceived 
the happiness of his country to depend. He was ever attached to 
the constitution, on account of the principles of freedom and jus- 
tice, which it contained ; and in every change of affairs he was 
steady in supporting the rights of man. His political opinions were 
always firmly republican. Though in 1798 and 1799 he was oppos- 
ed to the measures, which were adopted in the administration of 
president Adams, and reprobated the alien and sedition laws, and 
the raising of the army ; yet he never yielded a moment to the 
rancor of party spirit, nor permitted the difference of opinion to 
interfere with bis private friendships. He presided twice succes- 
sively in the college of electors in Virginia, and twice voted for a 
president, whose political principles coincided with his own. After 
a short but very excruciating sickness he died June 8, 1806, in the 
eighty first year of his age. It was supposed, that he was poison- 
ed, but the person suspected was acquitted by a jury of his coun- 
trymen. By his last will and testament he bequeathed liis valuable 
library and philosophical apparatus to his friend, Mr. Jefferson, and 
xlistributed the remainder of his little property among the grand 
children ot his sister, and the slaves, whom he had set free. He 
thus wished to liberate the blacks not only from slavery, but from 
the temptations to vice. He even condescended to impart to them 
instruction ; v.nd he personally tau');ht the Greek language to a lit- 
tle negro boy, v/ho died a fe^v days before his preceptor. 



\VYT. 631 

Chancellor Wythe was indeed an extraordinary man. With all 
his gruut qualities he possessed a soul replete with benevolence, an<S 
his private life is full of anecdotes, which prove, that it is seldom 
that a kinder and warmer heart throbs in the breast of a human be- 
ing. He was of a social and affectionate disposition. From the 
time, when he was emancipated from the follies of youth, he sus- 
tained an unspotted reputation. His integrity was never even sus- 
pected. While he practised at the bar, when offers of an extraor- 
dinary but well merited compensation were made to him by clients, 
whose causes he had gained, he would say, that the laborer was in- 
deed worthy of his hire, but the lawful fee was all he had a right to 
demand, and as to presents he did not want and would not accept 
them from any man. This grandevir of mind he uniformly pre- 
served to the end of his life. His manner of living was plain and 
abstemious. He found the means of suppressing the desire of wealth 
by limiting the number of his wants. An ardent desire to pro- 
mote the happiness of his^ fellow men by supporting the cause of 
justice and maintaining and establishing their rights appears to 
have been his ruling passion. 

As a judge he was remarkable for his^rigid impartiality and sin- 
cere attachment to the principles of equity, for his vast and various 
learning, and for his strict and unwearied attention to business. 
Superior to popular prejudice and every corrupting influence, noth- 
ing could induce him to swerve from truth and right. In his de- 
cisions he seemed to be a pure intelligence, untouched by human 
passions, and settling the disputes of men according to the dictates 
of eternal and immutable justice. Other judges have surpassed 
Mm in genius, and a certain facility in despatching causes, but while 
the vigor of his faculties remained unimpaired, he was seldom sur- 
passed in learning, industry, and judgment. 

From a man, entrusted with such high concerns, and whose time 
was occupied by so many difficult and perplexing avocations, it 
could scarcely have been expected, that he should have employed a 
part of it in the toilsome and generally unpleasant task of the edu- 
cation of youth. Yet even to this he was prompted by his genuine 
patriotism and philanthrophy, which induced him for many years to- 
take great delight in educating such young persons, as shov/ed an 
inclination for improvement. Harrassed as he was with business^ 
and enveloped with papers, belonging to intricate suits in chancery, 
he yet found time to keep a private school for the instruction of a 
few scholars, always with very little compensation, and often de- 
manding none. Several living ornaments of their country received 
their greatest lights fronti his sublime example and instruction.. 
Such was the upright and venerable Wythe. — American gleaner ami: 
Virginia rnagazine, i. 1 — 3, 17 — 19,33 — 36; Massa. miss.7nag.-v, 
ItO— 1.5 ; Debates of Virginia convent, second edit, 1.7, 42 L 



632 YAL. 

YALE (Elihu), the principal benefactor of Yale college, was 
born at New Haven in 1648, and at the age of ten years went to 
England, and about the year 1678 to the E^iist Indies, where he ac- 
quired a large estate, was made governor of fort St. George, and 
married an Indian lady of fortune. After his return to London he 
was chosen governor of the East India company, and made those 
donations to the college in his native town, which induced the trus- 
tees to bestow on it the name of Yale. He died in Wales July 8, 
1721.— •Clap's hist. Yale college, 29 ; Hohnes' annalu, \\. 104. 

YATES (Robert), chief justice of New York, died at Albany 
in September 1 80 1 . 

ZUBLY (John Joachim, d. d,), first minister of the presbyte- 
rian church in Savannah, came from St. Gall in Switzerland, and 
took the charge of this chu''ch in 1760. He preached to an En- 
glish and German congregation, and sometimes also he preached 
in French. He was a member of the provincial congress in 1775, 
but as he differed in opinion from his fellow citizens with respect 
to the independence of the United States, he incurred their dis- 
pleasure, and his future days were embittered. <He died at Savan- 
nah in July, 1781. He was a man of great learning, of a vigorous 
and penetrating mind, and of a heart moulded into the Christian 
spirit. He published a sermon on the value of that faith, without 
which it is impossible to please God, 1772 ; a sermon on the death of 
the reverend John Osgood of Midway, 1773 ; the law of liberty, a 
sermon on American affairs at the opening of the provincial con- 
gress of Georgia, with an appendix, giving an account of the strug- 
gle of Switzerland to recover liberty, 1775.— 'Georgia analytical rc' 
fiositori/f i. 49 ; Gordon, ii. 75. 



ERRATA. 

Page 321, line 27, after law add in JVew York. 

— 571, — . 3, for 399 read 418. 

— 584, — 37, for three hundred read one hundred and fifty. 



LB N U 



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